Baby Cadence Ryann Houser

Cadence’s Daily Adventures…

June 7, 2011

Okay so Cadence is cracking me up these days….. Tonite we were watching the tv reality show THE VOICE on NBC and Christina Augeliera was singing “Lady Marmalade.” And she was trying to copy her…. with her hands in the air and singing “ahhhhhhh hahh haaa.” So cute! She’s trying to dance in her high chair….. I love it. We’ll be starting dance classes at the end of June. I am so excited and I think Cadence is going to love it. She dances whenever there is a big beat on television.

Today when we were heading to the grocery store and when we went to Panera Bread … Cadence said “I’m so excited!” Ha! That girl… I swear she makes me smile on a daily basis.

This afternoon we had the slip and slide out…. Cars themed of course… Cadence is loving the movie CARS these days. She even has her own little matchbox car of Lightning McQueen. She wasn’t so sure about the slip and slide until our neighbor girl, Paige stopped by. She’s a few years older than Cadence and Cadence loves her! So she saw Paige playing in it and so she started to like it a lot more!

Yesterday Cadence went with me to see the movie HoodWinked. Of course, not my first choice…. Our first choice, well the theatre happened to break down that morning… Ugh. Anyway, Cadence sat through the ENTIRE movie…. well she got up to change seats a couple times… but other than that. She sat there and ate her popcorn. The girl LOVES popcorn. She ate half the bag. Seriously. I kept trying to get her to drink some juice, but she’d take a tiny little sip and then back to eating popcorn!  ; )

Two nights in a row this past week Cadence slept through the night ; ) Woo hoo! But we’re still not potty trained… BOO!

The NJ store, “The Couture Baby” has sent me a whole bunch of amazing items including headbands, tutus, rompers, etc…. they want photographs of their items. So Cadence has been my little model for their clothing and accessory line! They even named a headband after her —

http://www.thecouturebaby.com/item_1939/The-Cadence-Headband.htm

Not sure how long that link will work, but it does now…. Here’s a pic ; )

And here’s another…

http://www.thecouturebaby.com/item_1935/Cotton-Candy-Sweet-Treats.htm

My sweet little model!

Monday, April 11th

Another three months it has taken me to get on and update Cadence’s blog. Ugh! I’m the worst! She’s changed so much in these past three months that I just know I’m going to forget something….

First, this kid is hilarious. Just a few of the things that have come out of her mouth in the last few weeks…. we’re in a restaurant and she turns to the waitress and says “Do you have fries?” Another restaurant we visited, we walk in and she asks the host “Do you have food?” One day we were walking in the mall with my sister back in MN and Cadence kept saying she was hungry (even though we had just eaten an hour before… this kid has all of a sudden become a human trash compactor.) Anyway…. she kept saying she was hungry, so I said okay, when we leave we’ll get you some more food…… So we’re about to walk out of the mall and Cadence makes a bee-line for a restaurant she sees….. I laughed aloud wondering how did she knew it was a restaurant? We used to eat out a ton, but we don’t as much anymore…… I just thought it was hysterical!

A few weeks ago she was sitting in her high chair eating when she dropped something… and she says “Whoops! (slight pause) Sorrrryyyyyyy” ; )

And then we were in the car one day and I said ”

Yesterday we had baby chicks and a bunny here for Mini Easter Sessions I was hosting for 15 of my clients. Cadence loved going to pick out the bunny and the baby chicks. I rented the bunny from Lamothe’s Sugar House in Burlington and the baby chicks my neighbor down the road a mile purchased and agreed to keep for me when I was done with the shoot. Unfortunately by the time I got done doing everyone else’s portraits, I started to lose sunlight and Cadence was losing interest in the bunny and chicks!

A few weeks ago we took a trip back to MN to visit my family. Unfortunately, besides the time we went home for Christmas, it was the sickest Cadence has ever been…… She had some awful virus that was going around — vomited I think 10 times in a day…. on me, 6 times….. Ugh! She fought that virus for a week! Poor kid. Her poor daddy as something similar right now. I can’t wait for it to finally warm up so all this sickness dies off! (Speaking of… it’s supposed to be 70 degrees today! WOO HOO! ) Besides her sickness, Cadence loved hanging with her cousins and especially liked her grandpa time…. getting eggs from the chickens, riding the four wheeler, going sledding around the cabin (and yes there was still snow on the ground! When we landed that day the temp dropped to 10 degrees and there was a little snow storm. Lovely!)

We had Cadence’s birthday party on March 12th at the Jump Zone in Canton, CT. She had about 15 of her little friends there jumping around with her. She loved it! The theme was Olivia of course because Cadence LOVES Olivia! Her birthday cake was Olivia’s head! And of course the party gifts were Olivia for the girls (Thomas the Train for the boys.) We had a cute little banner with her name and Olivia’s face on it.

Cadence’s Birthday Party at Jump Zone in Canton, CT!

Cadence was enrolled in MY GYM classes in West Hartford last month. I purchased a groupon for one month. Normally it’s $75 a month for a child to attend classes. And while Cadence really seemed to like it, it’s a little expensive and is a 20 minute drive… so we’re looking into some closer classes right now. She loves the library and their classes (which are free!) but I think I’m going to enroll her in a summer dance class on Tuesday nights. I think she would love that. She is constantly singing and dancing, so I think it’s right up her alley!

Speaking of…. there is a song in Cadence’s current favorite movie “The Princess and the Frog,” that every time it comes on, I get up and dance with Cadence…. she loves it. If I don’t get up, she comes over and says “Mommy off chair” (because I’m constantly editing pictures!) and she takes my hand over in front of the TV to dance. I absolutely love it. And I love that her favorite princess is Tiana…. She’s already ahead of the game, embracing diversity! And she doesn’t even know it ; ) Love that!

Cadence will come over to me and say “Mommy Play?” And then she takes my hand and walks me over to either her Olivia toys, Barbies or wooden blocks. I think those blocks are helping her learn to identify letters and numbers. I think I’ve said this before… but she knows her numbers, all her colors and the alphabet. She’s starting to say complete sentences which I, of course, adore!

Currently, her favorites foods are still yogurt, bananas, string cheese, toast, applesauce (especially the kind she can squeeze out of the little packages) noodles like Mac and Cheese, but not the kind the comes in the Kraft box… she likes the real stuff! She also loves her juice, burritos, oatmeal, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, cheerios and goldfish. And of course she likes her low sugar Earth’s Best organic cookies. She knows exactly where I store the goldfish and she just opens the drawer and helps herself. And she can already reach things off the kitchen counters….. One day I had turned and she had a juice in her hand.. and I was like… ummm where did that come from? Then realized she had just snatched it off the counter! ; )

Cadence loves playing with little kids. If we see kids out and about, she’s my little social butterfly. For those who say you can only socialize your children in daycare, haven’t met Cadence! She stays at home with me and lovessss playing with other kids! If she sees me prepping my studio for a shoot, she’ll say “baby coming! Kids coming!” Because she knows that one of my clients will probably be arriving shortly! ; )

Cadence also loves to color. Anything and everything. Sometimes she’ll ask me to draw Mickey Mouse and St. Nick. I have a tough time, but it looks good enough for a 2 year old! She also loves to read her books. Just this past week Cadence finally began sleeping in her own bed again. A few weeks ago we purchased a toddler bed for her because she seemed to hate her crib… I think we traveled so much between October and March of this year that she was constantly sleeping in a new place…. The easiest way to get her to sleep, was to sleep next to one of us, which she did. And I’m not going to lie, I love her laying next to me… but in the past few weeks she’s gotten so big that she was constantly putting her head into my back ALL NIGHT and I was having a hard time getting a good nights sleep. So, we bought the toddler bed, hoping that would help. And it did! Naps were first….. those are a breeze now. At about 2 p.m. every day I say Cadence it’s nappy time…. and she gets up from playing and I pick her up and we go upstairs. She lays down, I kiss her and tell her I love her and walk downstairs. She’s usually good for 2 hours. It was a lot harder at night…. she did not like us leaving her. So Ben took the duty of falling asleep next to her…. it took almost two hours one night. And she would cry…. it wasn’t fun. So one night I said hey Cadence! Pick out three books and we’ll read them to you before you go night night. She was totally into that idea! So we picked out three books…. read them to her and then stayed with her until she fell asleep. It still took over an hour the first couple nights, but then slowly dropped… 20 minutes, 5 minutes… and now, I can read the three books, kiss her goodnight and walk out…. It’s fantastic! ; ) I’m sad she’s growing up, but love that she’s independent that way.

I guess that’s it for now! I just feel so blessed to have baby Cadence. She’s the best kid EVER!

Wednesday, January 12

Holy Moly! So three months…. wow, can you tell we’re a busy family?

Cadence is a full grown walking, talking chatterbox. I have no idea how many words this kid can say because it seems like she knows them all! She mimicks ANYTHING I say….. I have to be CAREFUL about that now ; ) She knows all of the primary colors… red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, plus a few others including black, white and beige. She can count from 1-14. She is learning her ABC’s. She thinks F comes after D, but hey, I think she’s a pretty smart cookie! She knows football. Whenever it comes on she says FOOTBALL, GET EM GET EM GET EM! And of course, for a while now, she’s known how to signal a touchdown.

She’s hilarious when she eats. My daughter thinks it’s a great idea to just swallow her food and not chew. And she knows I disapprove. So what she’ll do is this…. Chew a couple times and then swallow and then looks at me and says CHEW. Because that’s what I always say to her. Like she’s telling me, “I know mom, Chew!” Oh my gosh, the first time she said that I nearly cracked up.

She still loves OLIVIA. She got a bunch of toys for Christmas with the Olivia theme….. plush dolls, a little Olivia playhouse, Olivia figurines and Olivia crayon pouch. She loves, loves, loves that cartoon.

We went to see Disney on Ice on Saturday and Cadence just kept asking “Where’s Goofy?” Mickey and Minnie and the rest of the gang were more or less hosts of the show… so they’d come out between each act and every time Goofy would skate off… “Where’s Goofy?” And I forgot to mention the best part! We were in the front row… literally on the floor next to the ice. So all the characters would come over and wave at Cadence. And of course, we had to buy her some crappy toy for $20. Only because it lit up! I told Ben we’re bringing that same toy back every year.

Cadence loves to ask where everyone is…. when Daddy isn’t home, “Where’s Daddy?” After we go to visit relatives…. “Where’s Nana?” “Where’s Pappy?” “Where’s DJ?” “Where’s Nanny?” And the latest is “Where’s Nate?” “Where’s Zach?” It’s funny she asks for Nate because when we’re around him, she’s scared to death! I think it’s because he’s so tall ; ) Cadence in general has become very shy around men. The only two she’s not, is her father and her pappy. She adores the two of them. After she got to hang around her grandpas in Minnesota, she got comfortable with them as well ; )

Cadence still loves her books. She will literally sit for hours and read her books. She will read them aloud, of course in her own little language. She’ll say the name of the animal in the book but then its back to her own little language. I love it. Her favorites are those with animals in them….. I brought home my Fisher Price barn that I had as a kid and Cadence loves playing with it. We’ve updated the animals (found some wooden animals online and in some stores called ANIMALZ.) She also LOVES the movie Aladdin and the little monkey ABU. She’s also starting to like FINDING NEMO. She calls it the fish movie. And just the past couple weeks, The Little Mermaid.

Today we’re getting pounded with a snow storm. There is nearly a foot of snow on the front step right now.  Hopefully it will stop being so windy so we can take Cadence outside sledding for the first time! Right now the snow is coming down so thick and it’s coming down sideways. But if it isn’t too cold later, we’ll venture out!

She was obsessed with Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer over Christmas. I think we watched each of the two movies a good 30-40 times….. They’ve now been packed away.

Now whenever she sees a snowman, it’s automatically FROSTY!

Cadence loves to sing. No idea what she is singing?!? But it’s so cute!

She LOVES silly bands. I got her some at an airport for a flight to Florida back in November and it entertained her for a while on the plane. Since then we’ve purchased them in a few places. She loves playing with them. She also is in love with ELMO. I’ve tried to resist it for as long as possible, but she just loves him. Between Elmo and Olivia, I’m not sure which we watch more. She still likes Jack’s Big Music Show, but not nearly as much! ; ) Poor Jack! Ha!

Cadence also enjoys dancing… she will tap her knees, bend her knees, rock her hips from side to side and throw her hands up in down in the air…. I think she’s doing to enjoy dance classes once she’s old enough!

She’s getting a little tough when it comes to eating…. her favorites right now are BURRITOS, Happy Baby Organic Chicken and Rice, Grapes, Blueberries, Bananas and Toast. She enjoys cheese and likes her Organic cookies. Our family continues to give us a hard time about not giving her sugar, but she doesn’t know what she’s missing. And Cadence is a happy, well rested kid. Tantrums are rare and I like it that way!

Cadence continues to be a healthy little kid despite us NOT vaccinating her. She had a 102 temperature while we were in Minnesota over Christmas and she kicked it in less than 24 hours. No medications… just Vitamin C and D3. Since Cadence was  born she’s had a couple colds and that’s about it. While other people question our thinking about that, it’s been the best decision I’ve made for her. She’s thriving and developing so amazingly well. I just adore her.

Tuesday, October 11

Okay, so it’s been another TWO MONTHS since I’ve last written… ugh! Okay, so I guess I’ll start backwards …. In the last two days Cadence has gotten more brave! She will step up and down a curb without geting down to a crawling position. She just steps off! Makes my heart skip a beat every time, but she’s getting to be a big girl!

We had our first conversation a month or so back… it went like this: “Hey Mommy,” “Yes Baby” “Where’s daddy?” “Downstairs.”

And now she says this: “where’s daddy? Where’s pap pap? Where’s Nanny? Where’s Nana?” In that order, every time. It used to just be daddy and pap pap, but we went to Minnesota Sept 19-26th and she spent a lot of time with my mom, thereby we got “Where’s Nana?”

Now we just have to get “Where’s Grandpa? Where’s Grandma?” Then that will include all the grandparents. Including Grandpa Bob! Which reminds me…. one day when we were leaving my mom’s house, Cadence said to Bob, Bye Grandpa! It was hilarious… and I think it made Bob’s day.

We also spent time in Brainerd with my dad and Tristy…. Then Jesse, Lynsey and Avery came up to spend some time as well – and of course to shoot a deer or two! Avery was sweet with Cadence, but her jealous little head would pop up occasionally with Grandpa! ; )

Cadence’s newest obsession is ELMO. Literally everything is ELMO ELMO ELMO! You can thank her daddy for that. I was all set with Cadence just liking two cartoons – Jack’s Big Music Show and Olivia. But we went to Sesame Place this summer and Elmo was there… Cadence wasn’t really into it, but somehow Ben got it in his head that Cadence loved Elmo… so whenever we’d see him ANYWHERE… on a book, as a stuffed animal, on food packaging, Ben liked to point it out… and so therefore, Cadence learned and now anything that has ELMO on it… she wants! So not only do I have to tell Ben NO, I have to tell Cadence NO. It’s harder to get out of the store with Ben than it is with Cadence! So now we have two Elmo books, an Elmo stuffed animal and an Elmo DVD. And thanks to her nana, she has a PLASTIC Elmo toy. Nana knows I don’t like a lot of plastic toys, but she said she washed it! Ha!

Ben and I were talking the other night and we tried to add up all the words she already knows and we came up with 65 words….. I’m going to try to list them: banana, toast, yo (yogurt,) book (she pronounces it boot,) Elmo, Ducky, Horse, Cow, Pig, Chicken, Turkey, woof woof (dog,) bird, up, down, please, thank you, oh ohhhh, Yes, No, strawberries, blueberries, olives, keys, cheese, pipi (pizza,) bow, pretty, spoon, shoes, socks, kitty, mossy, chewy, apple, belly, eye, nose, eyebrow, toes, mouth, teeth, Hi, Bye, Daddy, Mommy, Nanny, Pap pap, Nana, Grandpa, Jack, Olivia, Ball, crackers, cookies, hot, dirty, poop, yucky, chair, again, bath, (that’s 62 so far… still thinking…) This, More, ear, earring, water, juice, P-O (for C-3PO) doll, sheep/lamb, minute, okay, bear — that is 75 words! She also says TWO, THREE after we say ONE…. She also says all done, crab, boat, Bus, Car, hair, fish, bunny, hey, baby, oh noooo, bit (for bib,) flower, Minnie, Mickey, watch, one minute, all done, oatmeal, monkey, touchdown, sit down, more, and where’d go? (she puts her hands up in air and looks around)…. that’s 101 words. Yayy Cadence! I guess it was more than we thought! I’ll keep thinking….

I checked online and on average children at age 18 months (Cadence just turned 19 months) say 20 words. So, I think Cadence is doing fantastic!

She loves, loves, loves looking through her books! Mostly she likes animal books… and just animals in general. The cats are still great with her. Although one day when we were sitting on the chair together Cadence had Chewy cornered and so Chewy growled at her. I gave Chewy a little discipline….. so far, so good since….

We purchased one of those little chairs from Pottery Barn Kids and she LOVES IT. We chose the STAR WARS chair and got it personalized with her name stitched into it. She sits in it all the time.

Whenever Cadence thinks she’s going into trouble she says “Hi,” with a big smile. It’s hilarious… as though she’s trying to get me to forget that what she was doing was wrong….. makes me laugh….

She has a ton of teeth now… 4 on top, 4 on the bottom and a couple of molars… I think she has 10, maybe 11 teeth, I can’t get her to open her mouth for more than a second! ; ) She likes brushing her teeth at night now! At first she wasn’t so sure, but I think because she saw mommy and daddy doing it, she wanted to do it.

She still loves to swim – loves the water…. whenever we see water… whether its the ocean, a lake, a bath or even a faucet flowing with water, she points it out…. she loves it.

And while she doesn’t have a favorite blanket, stuffed animal or anything that she has to carry around, she always has to have something in her hands… whether it’s keys, markers, toys, books, magnets…. (she still doesn’t put anything in her mouth, thank God!) She just always likes to carry something around in her hands.

She’s growing up so much… and finally literally growing! Her pants are starting to become too short on her. Although I think she still probably only weighs 24 pounds…. For example, she’s wearing a 3-6 month sweater set from the Gap. Cadence is 19 months now! Now granted, the Gap runs big in my opinion… in Gymboree she’s nearly in the 12-18 month clothing…. Half of Cadence’s wardrobe is Gymboree. I love that store! Although it’s way overpriced so I only purchase things on sale there….. but they just have the cutest clothes!!!

Cadence loves to push things around…. she loves this shopping cart that her nanny and pappy got her from Pottery Barn Kids. It’s the cutest little mini cart… looks just like the ones at the grocery stores. She puts things in it… like her books, keys, stuffed animals and pushes it around the house…. she just loves it. She also likes to grab our kitchen stools and push them around… climb through them (and get stuck!) She even does it in the stores! At Gymboree they always have three little chairs where kids can sit and watch cartoons… and if the store is quiet, I’ll let her push them around a little… which reminds me! I did something horrible at Gymboree. I turned to pay for some items there and I turned around to look for Cadence and she had gotten OUTSIDE! It was soooo scary! A woman brought her to the door and said is she yours? I was sooooo embarrassed! Thank God it’s not on a busy road! But man, my daughter is strong to get those doors open! She had tried just 10 minutes before that to get outside and couldn’t get it open… but either someone walked out and she snuck out behind them or just discovered super human strength! Either way, it was AWFUL. I felt terrible!

Cadence is crawling up and down the stairs all the time now. Ben gets a little worried, but so far, she’s doing great! We never purchased any gates. She learned how to go up and down at her nanny and pappy’s where the stairs were shorter and were covered in carpet. So she just applied what she learned there to here! And it worked well.

We went to Vermont this past week. Ben had to go for work, so he asked us to come along. While driving up, we passed through the town where Santa Land is located, so we decided to go! It was a pretty small park, but we were one of the only ones there, so it was nice. They have these little houses (but Santa wasn’t even in his house! Only Mrs. Claus!) They had all these animals there and Cadence loved to say BAHHHHHHH back to the sheep. It was hilarious! She was yelling it at the top of her lungs. She did it all the way out to the car….. We also visited the Teddy Bear Factory where Cadence was more into the crayons on the tables than she was the Teddy Bears, so we just got her a little one. And then last, we visited Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory where Cadence slept most of the time. Ben tried to give her ice cream, but she didn’t like it. YAYY Cadence!

Okay, I think that is it for now!

Saturday, August 8

Holy Moly! I’ve just been avoiding coming onto the website because I know I have sooo much to write! First off, Cadence is off to the races walking and running around! Within days of that last entry, she was walking non-stop. No more crawling unless she’s playing a game!

Today we went for a walk on the Farmington River and she was CRUISING! There was no need for either Ben or I to slow our roll. She can KEEP UP!

She literally makes my heart sing every day. She’s learning new things like crazy! Her hair is getting longer and she’s learning so many words!

Everyone said if I didn’t blog or write a journal I would forget the day to day things… and you know what? They’re right! There are so many things that happen during the course of the day where I think… ohh I need to write that down…. and then I don’t. I stink.

Okay, so here goes….. Right now, her two favorite TV shows are Jack’s Big Music Show and Olivia. She comes into our room every morning (on average she goes to sleep around 8:30 and gets up around 7 a.m.) So around 7 a.m. each morning Ben gets her out of her crib and she literally crawls all over me. She’s extremely fond of mommy in the morning. Ben will say “Cadence, can I hold you?” or “Cadence, will you hold daddy?” And she looks at him and says No…… but in this high pitched no….. and then she will literally crawl back over to me and climb onto my stomach and lay there… Sometimes she’ll sit up and look at me and say HIIIIIIIIIIIIII! That’s her way of trying to get me up. Or she’ll look at me and say “Yeah?” Yeah?” That’s her way of saying… Yeah, mom, it’s time to get up! Yeah, mom, let’s go!

But she’s pretty good, if I tell her, no Cadence, lay down … she’ll lay next to me, sucking her thumb. Every once in a while, falling back to sleep. But then eventually, every morning, she’ll say, JACK? JACK? That’s her way of saying I want to watch JACK’s BIG MUSIC SHOW!!! So at that point, Ben turns on the TV and Cadence lays next to him… and that’s usually when I sneak out to get a few things done downstairs before Ben has to get up and ready for work. It’s their daddy-daughter time!

About halfway through the day, Cadence will say OLIVIA? In her toddler talk….. the first time she said it, the theme song came on and all of a sudden she started singing along… now mind you, it’s just one word for the entire song, but yet, she knew at what point to say it…… I turned around and was like “huh?” She was bouncing and smiling and singing along… so cute!

Her newest words: Banana, Olivia, Jack, Juice, Yo (for Yogurt! She loves it!), Doggy, Kitty… Book, Hot! (She learned that from when I warm up these organic burritos that she likes so much!) BATH! (LOVES taking baths! You accidently say BATHROOM and she starts saying Bath? Bath? Bath?) Shoes. (The other day I said Cadence, where are your shoes? And she climbed the stairs to her room, found her shoes and brought them back down. Little Smarty Pants!) She also says “up,” “down,” and “doll.” My favorites are PLEASE and THANK YOU. Whenever she wants anything she says “please, please, please.” She’s seeming to forget more about thank you…. it took forever for her to say please… My mom, her nana, finally got the words to leave her lips. I was trying for a long time, but I’d say Please and she’s say THANK YOU. She wasn’t putting two and two together until my mom taught her. She’d say to Cadence “pleaeeeeeeesseeeeeeeeeee.” She caught on after my mom said that just THREE times. Oh Lordy, if I only knew, I would have done the same thing!

She can say the names and make the animal sounds for: Cat, Dog, Pig, Cow, Duck and Lamb.  I think it helps that my own father found my old Fisher Price Red Barn and she has all these little animals she likes to play with — oh and don’t let me forget to tell you about the books! That girl will sit and flip through her books for an hour….. No exaggeration at all! Her favorite books are her animal books. She flips through them so much that they’re falling apart!

The girl has grasped the stairs! She knows how to climb up and down them very easily. Ben is scared she’s going to fall, but so far, she’s doing really well!

She continues to love music and to dance to it. She does this thing where she bobs her head up and down with her lower lip sticking out… sort of like she’s tough. HILARIOUS!

The last couple weeks we’ve learned Cadence has a little jealousy when it comes to her mommy and daddy. If Ben comes over and hugs me or kisses me and says “My mommy.” She goes No….. and swings and swaps her hands at Ben.

She’s learned what “one minute” means….. If she wants something, I put a single finger up and say one minute….. and she relents with the whining. Sometimes she points one finger in the air back at me….

A few weeks ago Cadence picked up the remote, pointed it at the TV and turned the channel….. it wasn’t to anything you could actually watch (it was a blue screen.) But nonetheless, her little brain is starting to put things together!

She loves to SKYPE with her nanny and pappy. You just say the word SKYPE to her and she says “Pap-Pap?” And when we were back in Palmyra, Pa visiting Ben’s family, Her pappy opened the back door and she looked at him and said “Hi Pap-pap.” I nearly fell over! I’m sure that made her pappy’s heart soar!

Yesterday I found her stacking her blocks. Her eye, hand coordination is definitely improving. She stacks cups and blocks on top of one another….

Her new favorite request is “Up?” to get up and sit in our black leather chairs. She likes any chairs which are for adults. She will sit there and read books, play with toys, watch her cartoons. (Yes, I do let her watch some cartoons – I’m human!!!! Ha!) She can get down herself, she just can’t get up on her own.

Hmmmm. What else?

Her current favorite foods are by far more fruits than anything! But she loves strawberries, melon, crackers, olives (Ben cannot believe how much she loves olives.) She likes pizza, yogurt, toast, bananas, string cheese, burritos, some pastas, juice, green beans, blueberries (but really only fresh off the vine in our backyard.) I’m sure there are more but that’s all I can think of right now….

She’s still taking two naps a day. Today she was a sleepy girl. She took a 45 minute nap this morning (normally it’s two hours) and then she had an afternoon nap today from 1:45-4:45 p.m. and then she went to bed at 8 p.m.! Sleepy, sleepy girl!

Okay, I’ll have to think of what else…. oh yeah, we had a trip to MN in there as well as trips to PA (we went to Sesame Place!), and the Jersey Shore (no, not the TV show Jersey Shore, but Spring Lake, NJ) which is a heck of a lot nicer. Family Beach Town. Here’s a pic….

Isn’t she the cutest?

That’s all for now!

Saturday, June 11

Cadence took 18 steps yesterday! We went to the park and she was walking on the soft part – where it almost looks like mulch – and she just kept walking and walking… It is fun to watch her discover how her feet can get her places! As I’ve written before she loves the swings! We also went walking around on all the jungle gyms where they have different activites.

Whenever we change Cadence now she tries to reach down into her diaper and she looks at us and says Nooooooo. Because we’ve told her over and over, No. It’s her new game.

Yesterday when I went to get her up from her morning nap, she somehow had gotten her pajamas off! Now, I’m worried she’s going to figure out how to get her diaper off! SCARY!

Monday, June 7

Oh my, it’s been so long and I feel like Cadence has changed so much! Learned so much! The biggest accomplishment?!? WALKING! The most steps she’s taken so far is 16 steps. It’s so much fun to watch her get more confident with each step…. She started with a walker that a friend of ours gave to her. She’d walk all around the house with it. Then she got more confident and started pushing chairs around….. And then in the last two weeks she’s gained the confidence to really start walking….. It started with two steps to daddy (which I think were a surprise) but now it’s nearly full blown walking! She’s funny, whenever she falls down, she goes YAYYY! And claps her hands… oh yeah, that’s another thing, whenever anyone laughs or claps or cheers, she mimics them. It’s just hilarious….

And she’s got so many words down! These are the ones I can think of: mommy, daddy, hi, bye, all done, juice, ducky, belly, toes, nose, kitty, mole (because his mommy has lots of them!) and touchdown (when she raises her hands in the air.) I know there are more, but right now I can’t think of them….

And she’s even putting two words together… Hi Daddy, Hi Kitty.

She’s still sucking that thumb, but it keeps her sleeping, so I am all good with it.

She loves music. On Sunday when we were walking up to the church, she heard the music and started bouncing. My little dancer. She still loves Jack’s Big Music Show and bounces to the theme song…..

Every morning Ben walks in to get her out of her crib and then she lays on the bed with us and watches Jack’s Big Music Show. She loves it. We’ve seen just about every episode.

In September we’re going to the road show of “Yo Gabba Gabba.” The show is pretty fried, but they do teach some good lessons to children. So hopefully she’ll like it! At $60 a person, it better be good! Ha ; )

Hmm what else??? She loves taking baths. Tonite I just said “bath?” And she got all excited. The same excited she gets when I said “Cadence, do you want some food?” She kicks her legs and giggles. She’s got the best smile ever…. I get stopped in stores all the time by passer-bys who say “She’s so pretty.” Yup, she’s pretty cute!

Her newest adventure is to open and close the kitchen cupboards. She doesn’t take anything out of them. I think she just likes the fact that she figured out how to open them!!!

Okay, it’s getting late, but I promise to return to this blog a heck of a lot faster than the last time!

Monday, April 19th

So many things I’ve forgot to mention. Cadence has learned new words! She’s starting to say Bye and Hi. And we think maybe even thank you? But then again it’s probably just wishful thinking on our part! Her favorite word seems to be ALL DONE! Whenever she’s done eating she throws her arms in the air and says ALL DONE! It started when we were playing with this ball with her and we would hide it and we’d say WHERE’s THE BALL? She’s throw her hands up in the air as if to say I DONT KNOW. Just hilarious…. so Anyway, these days she’s saying ALL DONE. And last week at the bookstore Cadence was playing with Sophia, the daughter of one of mom’s friends. Cadence handed Sophia a stuffed animal and then I guess expected Sophia to hand it back (because at home we often hand things back and forth while trying to teach her please and thank you.) So Cadence looked at Sophia and said “All done?” “All done?” Her way of saying.. Hey Girl, can I get that toy back? HA! Love it!

This morning I walked into her room and she was sitting in the midst of all her crib toys transfixed by this precious moments doll that her Nanny DJ got her and when you push it, it says different things. Cadence thought it was hilarious every time the doll spoke. She was just so happy and in such a good mood. Half the time when she awakes, she awakes crying and the other half, laughing and playing. So, I love the times she awakes happy and content in her crib.

She loves to dig through the diaper bag and pull everything and anything out! She loves to pull off her socks and play with them. And I often throw dirty bibs near the stairs (because I bring them to the basement on one trip instead of walking down the stairs a thousand times) and Cadence loves to pick them up and throw them in the air. Pick them up and throw them in the air, over and over.

She loves her books. Especially her animal book that our friends Jamie and Aaron Groth gave to Cadence has a shower/welcome to the world gift! She loves to tear down our stack of DVDs, Playstation Games and CDs we have placed in front of the fireplace.

She still doesn’t stick anything in her mouth, but she did finally start to feed herself a few weeks ago. Such a relief! And she still doesn’t stick anything in her mouth, which just amazes me. I don’t have to worry about anything on the ground or  be afraid Cadence might choke on a small toy piece.

Wednesday, April 14

Ahh man, it’s been a month since I last wrote ONCE AGAIN. I am terrible at updating this!!! First, off the cutest thing this morning… Cadence woke up in the middle of the night so I brought her into the bed with us to sleep. And this morning when she woke up, she start crawling all over me. I had my eyes covered with a pillow – with just my mouth uncovered. All of a sudden I feel Cadence’s face right up in front of mine and she kisses me. She’s just the cutest!

She’s developing leaps and bounds! Her favorite word right now is “ALL DONE!” Whenever she’s done eating, she puts her hands up in the air (as if she’s saying I don’t know) and says ALL DONE! Thankfully a day after he last check-up she finally started FEEDING HERSELF! I was constantly feeding her…. but finally, she understood the concept of putting food in her mouth. Now I have to start watching her around tiny objects. So far, so good!

She’s extremely independent… playing for nearly an hour by herself. I feel a little guilty sometimes, but I’m told that it’s a good thing!

Cadence’s words right now are: mamma, Dadda, Kitty (which sounds likes kiiii-kiii with a hiss behind it) and ALL DONE! We’re working on Thank you – we think she’s getting close, but we could just be kidding ourselves!

After Cadence’s actual birthdate, we went to Disney and had an AWESOME time! We rented a condo that was so-so in Orlando – which wasn’t too bad because we spent so much time out and about. Unfortunately there were a couple rainy dates, so we got stuck sitting there for a good part of a day. But Cadence seemed to enjoy herself. I think Ben and I had more fun than her, but nonetheless we all had a nice time. Ben’s parents came with and were a great help with Cadence all week. Cadence just adores her pappy. I think it’s because he’s as silly as her father!

We spent out first day at Magic Kingdom where we got to see our friends Jerry, Ashley and their two kids, Addisen and Jackson. Their kids are just so cute and sweet. We miss them! Our first ride – of course – was “It’s a Small World!” We went on the Jungle Tour and then we took a spin on the Carousel. Afterwards, we made our way to TOON TOWN where Cadence got her picture taken with the princesses — Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Belle. We didn’t get on many rides our first day. Cadence’s Nanny bought Cadence her first Mickey/Minnie balloon as we were leaving the park.

The next morning we met up with Jerry and Ashley at Animal Kingdom. Our first ride was the Safari Tour in the back of the park. The line was long, but moved quickly! Cadence was so tired, she fell asleep halfway through. I think the warm weather and the rocky terrain of the vehicle’s path sort of rocked her to sleep. If I remember correctly, I think she was snoring too! We got our pictures taken with Goofy and Pluto! Cadence wasn’t scared at all. She just sort of looked at them?? We also went to see the show A BUGS LIFE! A little scary for kids — as Cadence started crying…. but I think it was more because the lights suddenly went out – and on top of that, I think she was a little hungry. Thankfully I’m still nursing, so that silences her tears pretty quickly! What will I do when I stop nursing?!?!?!? It’s such a life saver sometimes! Especially on plane rides!

The next day it was raining, so we had to wait for it to stop before heading to the parks. We decided to go to Disney Hollywood studios — which used to be called MGM. Nanny was sweet enough to sit with Cadence while Ben, Pappy and I rode “Rockin Rollercoaster.” I love that ride. Then afterwards we headed over to see the show, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.  Cadence was tired, but did occasionally stand up to watch the show — mostly when they were singing and dancing! Unfortunately it started raining shortly thereafter so we hustled over to the GREAT MOVIE RIDE. It’s an indoor ride where they take you through all these made up movie sets. I don’t know why, but I’ve always enjoyed that ride a lot.  We then had lunch at the 50’s diner there. Which is a very cool place! If I was rich and owned a second home, I’d decorate it all in 50’s decor. So cool! Cadence shared my Stuffed Pepper with me. She’s starting to eat more and more solid foods… she LOVES LOVES LOVES toast! And of course, the YoBaby Yogurt. She also eats kiwi, LOVES the guacamole I make! She also likes bananas, LOVES string cheese, sweet potatoes, bean burritos and green beans. She’s a great little eater. (However, at our last doctor check-up she was still UNDER 17 lbs! She can still fit into 6 month clothing! Yesterday she had these 12 month cotton pants on that were way to big for her so at one point in the day she stood up and stepped out of them. It was hilarious. It was as though she was saying “GET OFF OF ME!” They were dragging around her feet half the day!) I digress…. Anyway, after we ate at the 50’s Diner, it started POURING and I literally walked through a water puddle up to my ankles. To say the least, we left!

The next day was beautiful and we spent the morning at HOLY LAND. I was a little disappointed, but we did get to hear Josh McDowell speak – he wrote MORE THAN A CARPENTER. He was awesome! And Cadence even got to meet him in the store beforehand. He commented and said that she was so cute, he thought she was a doll! I’m sure he was kidding!

That evening we were to head back to CT, but we found out while trying to squeeze in one last visit to Magic Kingdom (where we wanted to get Cadence’s picture with Mickey) that our flight was canceled due to all the bad weather on the East Coast. OH DARN! We have to stay another night? And we can’t get out until the NEXT NIGHT? Oh Darn! So we were able to spend the night at Magic Kingdom –  riding the pooh ride (which is wierd- don’t ever waste your time going on that ride!) We also watched the 3D mickey show….. And of course, we got to see the parade with all the lights. I think it’s called the Spectacular? It was really cool and Cadence – despite her VERY sleepy body, watched a good portion of it. Although right when it started Cadence decided it was a great time to go to the bathroom. And boy — did it smell! I kept saying to Ben… maybe I should go change her.. and he’s like can’t you wait until its over? And then finally he held her and was like WOOOOOOAHH! All of a sudden changing her became important so I literally ran behind a store and changed her on a bench in the DARK! I don’t know how we got it done, but we did it – hustled back to the parade and got to see the rest of it. And of course that night I had to  pick up a new ornament for our Christmas tree – note Christmas tree – not a HOLIDAY tree! ; )

That night we stayed at the Coronado hotel – and enjoyed feeling like the place we were staying in was VERY CLEAN! And the bed was veryyyy soft. The only downer was that when Ben had brought his parents to the airport, we thought it would be a good idea to check our bag. So we did. And then we didn’t have anything once we got stuck. Although Ben did have a few things in his bag to use. And I had an extra shirt with because I wear a different one on the plane so I can nurse Cadence easier…. We got a toothbrush from the hotel and used their soaps and shampoo to shower.  The next morning we got up and headed back to Magic Kingdom for one last hurrah! We were able to get fast pass tickets for Peter Pan and then headed to Toon Town where we walked though and then took the train back to the front of the park…. where we got off and went to the Tiki Room show. I had never been in to see that show, so was a little disappointed by it. We then rode “Pirates of the Carribbean” which I love! Cadence slept through the entire thing. We had lunch afterwards at the busy little taco stand across the street – a couple was extremely generous and waved me over to take their table because it was so busy. I think they felt sorry for me…. We then walked over to ride the Peter Pan ride which is a cute little ride – Cadence stayed away for that one. Our last stop was Space Mountain over in Tomorrowland that Ben loves… I couldn’t go on it with Cadence, so Ben went by himself. Then it was time to go! We walked past the day parade and headed towards the door. I was so sad to go home! I felt like a little kid all over again.

Our flight home was okay…..we had to connect in Atlanta…  I certainly haven’t felt like flying in a while! It’s been nice to be home for a few weeks!

Cadence’s favorite thing to do lately is to tear all the DVD and CD’s down from the fireplace where we store them. She also seems to enjoy her Star War toys which Ben of course had to pull out of the basement for her to play with — she crawls around with Luke, R2D2 and C3po in her hands all the time. Except we lost C3p0 in Florida… Boooo!

Right now Cadence is playing with the Bear her nanny and pappy gave her and is kissing it. It’s so cute! She’s such a lover. Every time we walk down the stairs she has to kiss the mommy and daddy picture hanging on the wall. She’s been loving the outdoors – reaching for outside whenever we look out the window or sliding glass doors…. She’s starting to become more independent, reaching for certain foods and drinks. She already knows WHAT she wants. We’re really trying to teach her please and thank you… not sure she understands those yet! Ha! Okay that’s it for now! My fingers are tired from typing….

Monday, March 8

One year ago today I gave birth to my little sweetie Cadence. Today we celebrated her first birthday in Florida (Yup, we’re back in Florida!) We celebrated with her nana, grandpa Bob, Nanny and Pappy and her uncle Chris.  Cadence wore a cute new red polka dotted dress from Gymboree (that I got on clearance! Love Gymboree, but not their prices!)

Cadence got to smash a cake with her hands. She didn’t really smash it, but gingerly sort of poked and prodded it with her dainty little fingers. Then her daddy decided to smash her hand in it. Mean Daddy!!! ; )

She would just look at her fingers, like what is this? Why is it all over my fingers? Why is it all over my elbows and arms and everything else? At one point her nana tried to get her to eat the cake off her fingers (because she still will NOT feed herself. It’s ridiculous!) Anyway, Cadence didn’t like the fact that Nana was trying to get her to eat off her fingers. She got real sad, real fast.  So I decided to feed her some cake — I had to let up for one day on her organic healthy food…. right?!?!? So she got her first tastes of full on Sugar CAKE – and yup, she loved it.  She had a smash cake, but we also got her a Mickey Mouse cake.  Since we’re heading to DisneyWorld tomorrow, I thought it was the perfect fit. She didn’t eat any of that cake though – that was more for us!!!! However, I wasn’t impressed with the cake. And I LOVE CAKE! It’s sort of like people who eat pizza – they eat any pizza. There is no bad pizza. That’s how it is with me and cake. It’s gotta be pretty bad for me NOT to love it. It wasn’t bad, but not great either…

Then after Cadence ate her cake, we opened presents. Cadence got some awesome books from her uncle Chris and another book, a cute stuffed animal and some jewelry (that she has yet to open) from her Nanny and Pappy.  Auntie Shawnee sent a cute card and cold, hard, cash which Cadence seemed very interested in!

She got some cute outfits, a wooden ring toy,  and some SUPER cute hats from her Nana. She got a musical rattle from her mom and daddy that doesn’t make much noise – (I wasn’t too happy about that!) And an organic doll! She’s got a couple other gifts coming as well – including a Jack’s Big Music Show DVD and PBA Free/Made from recycled materials boat for her bath time. She loves taking baths, so I think she will love it! We, of course, videotaped and photographed everything! I just love her. I really can’t believe how quickly she is growing into her own little person. I adore her.

Earlier in the day when we were all hanging by the pool bar, Pappy tried to comb Cadence’s hair and I could tell it was starting to get stuck in her hair. I was calling out across the tiki bar, “hey stop.” “Hey stop combing her hair!” I don’t know if he couldn’t hear me or what? But then it really started to get stuck and Cadence started crying. The poor little girl!!!! Silly Pappy!!!!

Some other things Cadence has been doing…… She throws her arms in the air whenever we yell “TOUCHDOWN!” And then she claps like she’sexcited. It’s awesome. She’s pulling up like crazy still and even has stood up on her own a couple times, but still no walking… I guess I should be happy about that huh? The other day I turned around, she was gone, on the 2nd step of our staircase which leads UPSTAIRS!

Did I mention before that Cadence FELL DOWN our stairs in the basement (back in January?) AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL. Ben thought I had her, I thought he had her. We were getting out house set up for a going away party for friends. It was HORRIBLE. Thank God kids are resilient! I felt horrible. But no bumps, no bruises. God must have sent a few angels to watch over her and protected her from the hard stairs. At least the stairs were carpeted!

That’s about it for now…… we head to Orlando in the morning! I can’t wait to take Cadence on It’s A Small World! WOO HOO!!!!

Saturday, February 6

We’re in Florida visiting Nana! Daddy had to go to Miami to work at the Super Bowl. So, we took a trip to Florida as well — just a little north, to Cape Coral and Ft. Myers, Fl.  Cadence did well on the flight down. Thankfully she is still nursing, so if she gets upset at all, she just nurses! I don’t know what we’re gonna do once she stops! ; )

Cadence’s aunt and cousins were here as well. We took some pictures on the beach and had some fun on the sand. Cadence wasn’t too sure about the sand at first, but after she touched it a few times she starting digging at it like crazy! She also got a second trip in the hot tub at her nana’s house. She loved that. We walked to the pool and she looked at it like it was a HUGE BATHTUB! The pool is a little too cool for her right now, but she had a blast in the hot tub with her cousins.

Cadence loves the walker my mom has down here. Cadence is starting to take those initial steps toward walking, so she is loving it. She pulls up on everything. Including the pack and play she’s been sleeping in!!! She’s eating like crazy – loves string cheese, guacamole, yobaby yogurt, apples, bananas, tpast, etc.  However, she still won’t feed herself. In fact I tried to make her feed herself and she threw a fit! I know a lot of moms say this, but she rarely throws a fit unless she’s hungry, so she really must NOT be ready to feed herself. In one way it’s great, because she doesn’t put anything in her mouth, but it stinks because I still have to feed her EVERYTHING.

She’s gaining weight, but compared to other kids her size, she’s still underweight. So, we try to pack her with every and all kinds of food – nothing in a box, except some baby snacks…. Food as close to nature as possible… fruits, vegetables, etc…

We’re heading to Florida again in March to celebrate Cadence’s birthday. We’ll spend some time in Orlando and then come back to Fort Myers to spend her first birthday with her Nana.

That’s all for now!

Tuesday, January 12

We’re just about to leave for Cadence’s first music class at the Farmington Library. I think she’ll love it. Whenever music comes on the television (LOVE NICK JR!!!) she bobs her head up and down.

Cadence has grown and started doing so many new things. It’s awesome. She now waves Bye Bye. She did that for the first time just a couple days after Christmas. Her auntie was waving at her to say goodnight and Cadence just stared at her and then a few seconds later started waving back. I couldn’t believe it. So cute!

She is also in full blown CRAWLING mode! She crawls on all fours – but still resorts to her army crawl when she wants to get somewhere in a hurry – using her elbows a little more now.

At this very second, Cadence is still waving goodbye. Ben just left for work and Cadence hasn’t quite grasped that you stop after they leave. I love it!

She is also saying Dada a lot and even mama more! I think she’s also trying to say the word Kitty. Its really quiet and sounds like Ki-Ki-Ki….

Cadence is still doing blowing raspberries! She loves that. And still think it’s hilarious.

Toys have become fun for her! I can let her play on the ground for 30 minutes and she is entertained! Mommy can get some stuff done without feeling guilty. Who doesn’t love that? She got some great toys from our family. A dog that sings, wooden rings, a wooden train, a cute little Giraffe, along with books, more blocks and some musical flowers! One of her favorite toys is stacking cups. She likes to knock them down after daddy has them all set up!

The thing she loves best right now? A sample size of Aquaphor (which I need for her excema.) She gets her hands on that and just crawls around with it in her hands…. never letting it go!

Just the other day – I think Friday – she stood for the first time alone. It was just for a few seconds (with mommy’s outstretched arms around her as a safety net!) but it was awesome. She stands fine by herself holding onto things, but not so much alone yet. We had to lower her crib because we were fearful she’d crawl out!

All right – off to our first class!!!

Wednesday, December 16

I think Cadence has FINALLY got a nap routine down. For mom, that is AWESOME. She’s been a greater sleeper at night… usually going to sleep between 7-9 p.m. (lately around 8 p.m.) and gets up around 7:15 a.m. But then has been taking naps around 9 a.m. then again at 2 p.m. and a late one around 5 p.m.

It’s been nice to have the consistency. We went to the doctor last week and sadly Cadence hadn’t gained ANY WEIGHT. She was still 13 lbs. 5 ounces. I thought she was around 14 lbs the last time we went, but apparently not. So we’re loading her up with food! I am nursing her and plus we’re giving her baby food in the Earth’s Best Organic jars. In addition we’ve been giving her the food we eat… a little here, a little there. Last night we tried to give her meat for the first time and she didn’t really like it. She kept coughing with it in her mouth, as though she didn’t like it. However, she ate the beans that were in my burrito today. So hopefully she’ll get the iron she needed. She also gets her Happy Baby Organic puffs and these Organic rice rusks that she seems to like a lot.

I think I hear Cadence playing in her crib…. maybe that 5 o’clock nap isn’t happening today! ; )

Tuesday, December 8

Cadence is 9 months old today! And wow, this past month she has changed soooo much!

First off, she started crawling the day before Thanksgiving. We were at Ben’s parents home where there is carpet galore and I think its all Cadence needed to get moving. We have hardwood floors through most of our house, so it’s a little harder for a wee little one to get moving. She was so cute… she’s like a seal, slapping her front hands down and pulling herself forward. We enticed her across the room with stuffed animals and toys.  She’d see them a few feet in front of her and she’d be off to the races!!! We didn’t get video of it on the first day, but when we got home a few days later we got it on camera.

This morning I walked into her bedroom and she was sitting on her bumm holding onto the railings just looking at me. Not crying, just curious. It was hilarious! I think it’s time to lower the crib. We lowered it just a week ago when I saw Cadence reaching for the top railing and SMACK she hit her head on it. I thought hmm… probably time to lower it.

Cadence still loves it when we clap for her.  If she’s crying, and we clap, she almost always stops. I am trying to teach her how to clap. She’s also started blowing raspberries. Hmmm who taught her that? Perhaps her daddy?!?!?!? She will sit there and blow raspberries for 5-10 minutes straight. No joke.

I don’t know if she knows WHAT she’s saying yet, but it sounds like she is saying MAMA. She definitely has the word mmmm, yumm, mmmmm down when she eats those little puffs. Which we gave her right before Thanks giving as well. She chomps down on them with her gums and makes the cute little mmm sound as she eats them. And she’s been doing this head bobbing thing which cracks me up.  And when she’s eating her lips press together into this tiny little mouth as she chews. Seriously, it couldn’t be ANY CUTER!!!

We have her next doctor appointment tomorrow, so we’ll see if she’s put on any weight. Last time she was in the 25th percentile for weight at around 14 lbs. Hopefully she’s a little bigger, although she still feels light!

Still no teeth! Which is fine by me. I am still nursing and her gums alone hurt!

Cadence is still sleeping through the night which is amazing. She also takes 2-3 naps during the day. They don’t usually last longer than a half hour, but it’s still nice. Cadence usually sleeps from between 7-8:30 p.m. to between 7-8 a.m. in the morning. Unfortunately it’s usually closer to the 7 a.m side! Ha!

It just seems like she’s growing so much these days. It almost makes me sad to think of how quickly 9 months has already gone by! Soon enough we’ll be celebrating her 1st birthday!

We spent Thanksgiving with Ben’s parents and Cadence got to meet her Nanny Houser and her Aunt Helen. We had a nice time eating a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at Nanny DJ’s residence. It’s a beautiful place.

We’re spending the days leading up to Christmas at Ben’s parents and then off to MN for Christmas! We were in MN just a few weeks ago because my father had a heart attack. A scary thing, but he seems to be doing okay. We had another scare two nights ago…. but my father got checked out at the U of MN and they said it’s not his heart. So next up, they need to check into his stomach. Thankful God heard our prayers that my Dad’s heart would be okay. Praises to Christ for that!

Cadence and I have joined a playgroup with a friend I met in photography class. The other kids are between 6 months and nearly a year, so it’s a nice age group for Cadence to be in.  The kids don’t quite interact with another yet, but sometime down the road I am sure.

C’est tout for now!

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Monday, November 2

It seems I get worse and worse at this…. Cadence has changed already so much since our last entry! Cadence is FINALLY COMPLETELY SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! YAAA HAAA! She falls asleep between 8-9 p.m. and is up usually around 8 a.m. Although tonite she fell asleep about 6:30 p.m. I think the “fall back” has her internal clock off just a bit. I’m sleepy myself! Hopefully this doesn’t mean she’ll be up at 6 a.m. tomorrow!!!

Cadence is eating all sorts of baby foods now. Still doesn’t enjoy veggies except for tomatoes, sweet potatoes and the occasional jar of squash. If you try to give her any other veggie, she closes her mouth up real tight or just cries! It’s hilarious! She LOVES fruits. She opens her mouth as far as it will go when she eats. Before every bite! The best way to describe it … like a baby bird waiting for his mom to drop food in his mouth. It is so cute.

She’s also started doing this bunny or pig sort of breathing thing with her nose – she scrunches it up and breathes in and out real quick.. she does it whenever she’s happy! And then when she sees the cats, she does this panting sound. Aww, the kid just kills me with her different expressions of happiness. Also, she’s got this goofy open mouth laugh too where her lips form a circle and she makes a monkey like sound. The kid just kills me!

She’s not crawling yet, but she’s doing the precrawl where she gets up on her toes and sort of rocks back and forth. She can however, crawl backwards. Today she was on her playmat and was slowly, but surely pushing herself back into the basement door opening. I was watching her closely… but still it makes one a little nervous! And even though she isn’t crawling yet, the girl will ROLL HERSELF to wherever she wants to be. So, I’ve had to nearly catch her a few times when she’s rolled herself toward the edge of the changing table.

(By the way, it’s just two days after Halloween and there are CHRISTMAS commercials on ALREADY!)Cadence dressed up as a Lion this year for Halloween. She was ADORABLE. We went to a Halloween party at a friends house and then headed over to our church where they had a HARVEST party.  Here she is in her costume.

She’s still in her 3-6 month clothing. Her Baby Gap clothes are still a little big on her in that size! However, she’s nearly fitting into the Carters 6 month clothing! Finally! She turns 8 months in just a couple days.

During our last doctor visit, October 10th, she weighed nearly 14 lbs (25th percentile) and was 25 inches long (50th percentile.) So that’s an improvement over the 10th percentile for weight a few months back. She’s a petite little thing. Most of the time people think she’s 6 months old.

Cadence plays in her high chair a lot now. And she’s fitting into the grocery cart seat a little better. I still need to stuff the sides with blankets or my jacket, but she’s starting to fill it in.

Ben bought Cadence her first plastic, light up toy the other day. She loves it. I figure as long as she can’t fit it into her mouth, it’s okay. I prefer the natural finish wooden or cloth toys over the plastic, but one toy won’t hurt her! But man, have you ever turned the packaging over to see where most children’s toys are made? CHINA! Does our country not hold the intelligence to make our own toys? Pathetic. I’m willing to pay more money for MADE IN THE USA stamped on the back of my baby’s toys.

I gave Cadence a couple of fake leaves the other day to play with (she loves real leaves and sticks.) And she absolutely SHREDDED them. Watching her, she just ripped it apart as hard as she could – I just kept thinking where does she get this aggression?!?!? My husband laughed, looked at me and said Hmmm I dunno??? As though she gets it from me!!! Haha.

Another thing Cadence loves is the ANSWERING machine. I have a couple old messages on there that she loves listening to – one from Lynn Swann – a former Pittsburgh Steeler and another from Dr. Harry Edwards – a civil rights advocate.  Something about their voices, she loves. So I save the messages and play them for her occasionally.

I think that’s it for now. Hopefully it isn’t another month before you hear from us again!

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Wednesday, September 23

Wow, nearly a month has passed once again! Just to update the whole crib scenario… Cadence slept in her crib for just a couple of nights before we had a setback. We weren’t getting much sleep and her feet kept getting stuck in the crib slates, so we put her back in her bassinet for a couple of weeks. But I am happy to say over the past week Cadence has consistently been sleeping in her crib for both naps and overnight. I found one of those mesh bumpers and put that in her crib so her little feet wouldn’t continue to get stuck in the crib. Even with the bumpers I was still a little worried because when she would get upset (because it was sleepy time) she’d flip over on her tummy. And EVERYONE says sleeping on your back is the best way to prevent SIDS (I think its a little more than that – i.e. vaccines and chemical filled mattresses) but I still was a little worried. Still am. But we check on her a few times before we go to sleep and so far, so good! She gets up in the middle of the night at times to eat, but much better then when she’s sleeping in the same room with us. I do miss having her in the room, but I also like getting some sleep!!!

A couple of weeks ago I had my first night AWAY from Cadence. I was worried and nervous about it for the week leading up to it. I had to fly to Green Bay to cover the Sunday night game between the Packers and the Bears. I left Sunday morning and was back by Monday night, but still, it was interesting. First off, because I am nursing, I had to bring a pump (any and all guys, feel free to bypass this section – ha!) It’s tough when your body is used to feeding a baby every few hours and then… Nothing. I was wondering if the security guards at the airport would wonder what the heck the contraption was, but no such questions were asked.

The game was boring besides the last quarter and we didn’t have too much to do following the game, so I was in bed by 1 a.m. Then, I got to sleep until 8 a.m. without any sort of awakenings. It was nice. I did miss my little girl, but one night away isn’t the worst thing in the world! My flights were on time the next day and I was home in CT by about 8:30 p.m.

The best part? Hearing these words from Ben: “That was a great experiment and all, but lets go back to the way things normally are.”

Ha! Well, Mr. Mom learned a thing or two watching Cadence for 36 hours. I agreed though, I like being home with Cadence. Although a day or two out working doesn’t hurt my brain!

Cadence got her first taste of baby rice cereal the day before her 6 month birthday. She did NOT like it. Take a look below.

So we tried the next day to mix it with this baby yogurt called “Yobaby,” and she ate it up! I can’t blame her though. I sampled a tiny bite of the rice cereal. YUCK.

Then this past week I picked up six different varieties of organic baby food, including bananas, pears, apples, squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. No one warned me that you should give a baby vegetables before fruit, so lil’ miss Cadence had decided that squash (the first veggie I gave her) does not taste good! Therefore over the last couple feedings I’ve given her, I have swapped in a few bites of the squash when feeding her the yogurt, cereal combo.

One day when I was feeding her the cereal with the yogurt I must not have gotten enough yogurt mixed in because first she gagged on it and then decided… hmmm I think I’ll spit this out. It was hilarious! Funny now, not so much in a few months I suspect! Haha.

I started a photography internship and also photography classes to improve my photography skills. Here is one of my favorites. Our friend Ashley has been watching Cadence during the day, a couple times a week.

Saturday, August 29

Last night marked a new era in sleeping for Cadence. We decided that it was perhaps time to move from her bassinet in our bedroom to her crib in her bedroom. I was nervous, I won’t lie.  I laid her in her crib and turned her mobile music on, clearing out all the toys and blankets that are normally sitting in there during the day. As I took each stuffed animal out, one by one, I started to feel sad. Cadence had slept in the same room with me since she was born. I haven’t slept apart from her for nearly 6 months. Each night I could just reach into her bassinet and pull her out when she was hungry or just needed to be re-assured that we were nearby. Last night would begin a new chapter in Cadence’s life. Her first step into independence. It may seem like no big deal to those of you without children or for those of you who had children years ago, but for me, it was tough.

Cadence wasn’t too thrilled with the situation either. After clearing out all the stuff from her crib (minus a teeny little stuffed animal and pacifier) I restarted her music mobile, kissed her goodnight and walked out of the room. Inside my head I thought, this is never going to work. How do mothers do this???? So after just a few minutes I peeked inside the room to see how she was doing and what I found was hilarious! She had rolled onto her tummy and the mobile was about an inch from her face. And her feet were sticking out the side of the crib.

(Which brings the question, bumper or no bumpers? There are so many conflicting pieces of advice out there!) After laughing a little bit, we re-arraged her and I moved the mobile so now it was on the side of her crib and she wouldn’t feel the need to strain her head to see the mobile – thereby causing her to roll over.

After moving the mobile, it was almost like she could sense we were leaving her alone in there the entire night. She started crying, loudly too. It was too much for me to handle so I walked out of the room and downstairs. She screamed and cried for about 10-15 minutes, but then silence. I thought, did she really fall asleep? Nope, a little more crying occassionally… but then the crying got softer and softer. Ben went into check on her and he said that she was nearly asleep. More or less crying in her sleep. After she was quiet for five minutes I went into check on her and sure enough, she had fallen asleep!

Then it was time for mom to cry. I was so sad. Sad that she wouldn’t be sleeping next to our bed, sad that I felt like I had abandoned her. I was in tears. How do mom’s eventually send their kids to school? And see them graduate? Ha! I will undoubtedly be a mess each step of the way.

When did I become such a softie? I think the minute they placed the little beauty on my chest. I love her with all my heart and truly with all my soul.

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Thursday, August 27

Cadence finally saw her pediatrician on Monday. She is in the 10th percentile for her weight, at just 12 lbs 10 ounces and the 50th percentile for height (25 inches) and head circumference. She WAS perfectly healthy, but today she started getting a runny nose. I have only myself to blame as I was sick for four days this past week. I feel bad that she’s sick now. Hopefully she will just get a mild case of whatever it is that I had……

Today Cadence had her first visit to ESPN and daddy’s office. It just happened to also be the 30th Anniversary of ESPN today, so we got some free cake! Which was so-so…. nothing to write home about… but some friends and co-workers of daddy’s got to meet Cadence for the first time.

Cadence is in full force utilizing her voice. She’s hilarious. One of her newest sounds is that of like a crow?? She caw-caws. It makes us laugh!

We had a first today! She rolled over on her own for the first time. She’s getting so big! Even though everyone tells me she is a little peanut. I just love her and we get sad thinking about how she’s growing and learning new things so quickly. Soon enough she’ll be graduating high school! Haha.

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Tuesday, August 18

We got a pool! HA! Just kidding. It’s only a kiddie sized $5 pool for Cadence.

We had a little fun with it today… putting the Bumbo in the water so she could sit up straight. It’s been crazy hot here this week, so any sort of water relief is welcomed!

We finally go back to the doctor next week so Cadence can be weighed and measured ….  I have no idea where she falls on the percentile chart. It seems every parent knows except me!

Sunday, August 16

Nearly another month since I’ve last logged on… pathetic no?

Well, Cadence has discovered her vocal cords! She is hilarious with all the new sounds she’s making. She’s squealing and has developed a true laugh. (We only get a little bit of that coughing laugh now.) She loves to be tickled on her sides and she laughs hysterically when you blow raspberries on her tummy. She becomes more fun each day.

We’ve got a couple games we play with her and her pacifier. Daddy likes to make a buzzing bee sound and fly the pacifier around… which Cadence tries to grab with her mouth when he flies past her face! And I like to put the handle part in my mouth and have Cadence reach with her mouth to clamp onto the other side and take it from me. Also, she’s getting her little tongue a wagging too! It’s like she discovered all these new little things to do with her mouth. When she’s happy she sometimes makes a sound where she pants like a dog… it’s almost like another one of her laughs.

She continues to teethe. The poor kid. She loves to chew on her fingers… two, three at a time! And she does it on all sides of her mouth.. sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right… and sometimes right down the middle. She will also chew on my fingers. I still haven’t felt any teeth coming through, but I expect to see one soon!

I brought Cadence to a friends house last Friday. She has a pool and Cadence wasn’t too sure at first, I think because the water was a little cool. But once you got in, it felt fantastic. Cadence mostly enjoyed sitting on one of the rafts while I pulled her around the pool. She just really enjoys the water. If she’s ever cranky, I either turn the water on for her or I walk outside with her. Usually one or the other works. We discovered the “water” trick of calming her on accident. When I was home in MN, Cadence wasn’t sleeping too soundly. I think the combo of teething and being in new bedrooms every other night was throwing her off. Well one night she just wouldn’t fall asleep.. she was crying, fussing. I went into the bathroom to make a bottle for her and turned on the water. (I wasn’t using the bathroom water to make a bottle, don’t worry! ha!) And the second I turned on that water, she stopped crying. My first thought? “Oh were gonna stand here for a little bit!” LOL!

Cadence’s sleep patterns have been absolutely amazing the last three nights. We usually get her to sleep between 8-9 p.m. and she’s been sleeping until 5-6 a.m. in the morning. She’ll wake up a couple times through out the night, but only because she’s lost her pacifier. It’s been nice getting that extra amount of sleep! And she’s actually been napping the last few days! (How else could I write this??) And she’s so funny when she naps because sometimes she holds onto her legs and feet while sleeping!!! (Maybe that’s why she’s started sucking on her toes the last month! HAHA!)

Two weekends ago I returned to the working world! It was only for a weekend, but it was good. I did a freelance gig for ESPN at the Haskell Invitational in Oceanport, NJ. It was at the Monmouth Park racetrack. Rachel Alexandra was racing against the boys once again, so ESPN wanted to cover it. I am still nursing, so somehow I needed to either bring someone with to watch Cadence while I worked or leave her home with Ben. The job was going to take me to NJ for three days, possibly four, so leaving her with Ben didn’t seem like a good idea. So, Ben suggested we ask his parents to come up for the weekend. They live about 2.5 hours from the park, so they agreed to drive up and watch Cadence. They had a free weekend, so it worked out perfectly! Cadence and I got to the hotel around 5 p.m. on Friday and Ben’s parents arrived just a couple hours later. I had to be at work at 5 a.m. on Saturday, so I tried to get Cadence and I to sleep fairly early. I left for work in the morning and her Nanny got up to give her a bottle as I slipped out. I thought I would only be at work until about 1p.m. but plans for SportsCenter changed once I got there, so I ended up staying until about 5 p.m. I missed Cadence a lot, but knew she was in good hands. That was the longest day that I had been away from her. That night the four of us went out to eat and Cadence slept the entire time.

The next morning I got to sleep in a couple hours later and left the hotel around 7 a.m. Nanny and Pappy watched Cadence until nearly 8 p.m. that night, but I was able to drive back to the hotel for a couple hours to hang with Cadence. That way Nanny and Pappy could have a break! Cadence did wonderfully on Saturday, but Sunday she was fussing and crying for them. When I got to the hotel Cadence’s whole face lit up and she attacked my face with her own version of kisses and laughter. I loved every second of it.

Praise God for Nanny and Pappy and their willingness to watch little Cadence while mom returned to work!

Monday, July 20

Wow, almost an entire month since I’ve last blogged.

We’re in Minnesota! Ben had to come to MN for work a week before we originally intended to visit, so Cadence and I booked a new flight and flew out with him. Daddy had to return to CT for a few days, but will be back tomorrow! I think he’s missing his girls.

Cadence has had a few new firsts! Her grandpa has some new baby chicks and Cadence was bewildered by the little furry creatures. She stared at them for a good hour before we finally put them back into their cage. I think grandpa enjoyed it just as much as she did. I think her Nana is going to take her to the zoo this week, so we’ll see how she likes all the animals. If it’s anything like the baby chicks, she’ll love it!

Cadence is so funny. Her Nana was giving Cadence tummy time on her chest and was kissing and blowing little raspberries on Cadence’s neck and cheek. Well Cadence decided she was going to give them right back! Nana and Cadence went back and forth giving each other a little bite/kiss/nudge. It was hilarious! I wish I had a videocamera to catch it on film. Cadence can get aggressive! Ha!

Yesterday we went on a boat ride with Grandpa Bob and Nana. Cadence wore her cute little hat to protect her from the sun. We stopped on a mini peninsula and put Cadence’s feet in the water. She really loves the outdoors. If she’s ever crying, I just step outside and she almost always stops. Are all babies like that?

I think she’s also starting to teethe. (Is that correct spelling?) She’s been drooling like crazy and been a little fussy at night. It could just be the traveling, but normally she gets up just one time per night and since we’ve been here she’s been getting up 2-3 times each night. I think I need to pick up some of those homeopathic tablets they sell. I hear they work wonders!

Cadence just loves her toes. A couple of days ago she put her feet in her mouth for the first time. It’s amazing how flexible babies are — I danced for most of my childhood and teenage years and could never do the splits! She’s already got me beat!

Last but not least, Cadence’s newest friend was born yesterday! Angie and Tom Miller welcomed a new baby boy to the world. His name is Ty James Miller. Love the name TY! We’re anxiously awaiting pictures!

C’est tout for now!

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Monday, June 29

I am not so good at updating this anymore, am I? Ha! Well Cadence has started to try to sit up on her own. She is working on those ab muscles! We also started playing this game where she sits on my lap and we count, 1, 2, 3 and we lift her up in the air by her arms until she is standing. She loves it. We twist her torso back and forth like she’s dancing! And when we hold her over her crib we swing her back and forth, saying “wooooo.” She’s loving that too. She becomes more fun each day!

This past weekend we had a couple of parties to attend. Our friends, the Hollerans had a birthday party for their two kids. They had a bounce house, so of course mom had to go in and jump around! We brought Cadence in for just a few minutes to see her reaction… she was a little confused by the bounciness I think. Is bounciness a word? All in all, she was an angel at the party. No fussiness, no crying.

Then on Sunday, our friend Ashley Castro had her college graduation party. Cadence did pretty well, but at one point gave her lungs a good workout when she got hungry! And tired! Eventually she got to watch her mom play “wine pong.” Its the same as beer pong! But because 1. I am nursing and 2. I hate wine. I had a stand in who drank for me! We barely lost our round at the table.  We were beat by a couple of guys who just graduted from college so they have plenty of experience at the beer/wine pong.

Daddy is going on another trip tomorrow (he was in Los Angeles last weekend.) So Cadence and mommy will have to find something to do while he is gone. Thankfully its a one day trip to Orlando, so he’ll leave in the early morning and return late in the evening.

Wednesday, June 17

It’s been some time since we’ve updated this page. And a lot has happened! Right now Ben is shooting a feature in Hershey, PA which is just down the road from his parents home. Cadence and I flew in from Minnesota on Sunday night to meet Ben here in Palmyra, PA. Yesterday we took Cadence to Hershey Park. At the park entrance they have height measurements to show kids which rides they can go on… We decided to measure Cadence just for fun!

Not that she could ride anything! Although we did bring her on the Merry Go Round. She enjoyed the lights of course! Here’s a photo of Cadence with her daddy on the ride.

Ben and I rode some rides while Nanny DJ and Nanny Cheryl watched Cadence. The day before we went swimming at Hotel Hershey. They have a beautiful pool! Waterslides, hot tubs and a kids area. It was a little late, a little too cool for Cadence to get in the water, but mom enjoyed her time with her niece Maddie! Earlier in the night Ben spoke at his father’s Rotary meeting about his experiences at ESPN and mommy and Cadence listened. Here’s a photo afterwards with our niece Maddie too!

Before coming to PA, Cadence and I flew to Minnesota to see my family. It was quite the experience! We departed CT last Tuesday and got to the airport to find out our flight had been delayed. They decided to send us through Washington DC in order to get to MN on Tuesday. Well….. our first flight was fine. Our connection in DC, not so great. We got stuck on the tarmac in Washington DC for 3 Hours! 3 HOURS!!!! Amazingly, Cadence didn’t cry the entire time. She was a great little baby. We met some new friends on our flight who turned out to be extremely helpful later that night.

After we sat on the tarmac for three hours, they told us our flight was canceled! And they would NOT give hotel accommodations due to the weather.  Awful! Hotel rooms in the area were in the $400 range — which is more than what our flight cost! Once again, I say AWFUL.

I was a terrible mess trying to rebook my flight. My phone was dying  and due to so many flights being canceled, I couldn’t get a signal out! There were hundreds of people trying to rebook flights at the same time. Ick! Some kind strangers stopped me to ask if they could help me after they saw me struggle to hold Cadence and my bags (I didn’t have my stroller because I plane side checked it.) So nearly in tears, I gladly accepted their offer for help. His cell phone was working so he was able to rebook my flight for me. Thank God! Turns out one of them even went to Cretin-Derham Hall, a high school in the Minneapolis-area.

After I was able to get a hold of my family to tell them I would NOT be arriving that afternoon/night I went to the baggage claim to pick up my bags. I still wasn’t sure where I would be staying that night. I found my seatmates at the baggage claim and two of them offered Cadence and I a place to stay overnight. I gladly took them up on it. Linda, the woman who graciously allowed us into her home, paid for our cab rides and my dinner. She was definitely God sent! I told her she would have an extra room in her Heavenly mansion someday!

Our flights went much smoother the next morning. We had to connect in Detroit unfortunately, but made it to Minneapolis by 9:30 a.m. the next morning.

Cadence & Her Aunt Melissa

My sister was there to meet us – it was the first time she’d be meeting Cadence. We then drove to Cadence’s grandfathers workplace where Cadence met her uncle Jesse for the first time. Then we got back in the car for a 45 minute drive to see her Nana and niece Calista. Just a few hours later we drove back down to Roseville where Cadence got to meet a bunch of mommy’s friends. Then later that night Grandpa and Grandma watched Cadence while Mom and Nana went to watch Melissa play volleyball.

The next day we drove to Brainerd with cousins Riley & Avery where grandpa took Cadence on her first 4 Wheeler ride. That night Cadence’s great aunt and uncle, Brian & Donna planned a nice BBQ with the Engholm side of the family. Cadence was able to meet many of her cousins, aunts, uncles and Grandpa & Grandma Engholm. It was a wonderful time seeing everyone! That night we stayed at Grandpa’s cabin before heading to see Nana the next afternoon.

We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Nana, Aunt Melissa, cousins Cadence & Brooke and Grandpa Bob … before flying to PA on Sunday afternoon.

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Friday, June 5

Today was a rough day for Cadence to nap. A couple times in the last few days Cadence has had a cry fest. She’s normally a very predictable, happy baby…  so it’s got Mom a little frustrated. After she finally fell asleep, she’s slept nearly 3 hours…. but Man, getting her there was work today!!!

Yesterday Daddy took Cadence on his first SOLO walk along the river. I think they had a nice time. Cadence fell asleep pretty quickly. I think she likes the feel of the path. It’s soothing to her. Ben’s starting to work out again, so I think he enjoyed it just as much.

This weekend I think we’ll take Cadence to the drive in so mom and dad can see the new “Night at the Museum” movie.

One of mommy’s favorite things is to see the outfits that daddy puts on Cadence. They usually don’t match or make much sense. For example, yesterday for their walk Cadence had on a pajama dress like thing.. with Khahki pants… And one day, about a month ago, daddy couldn’t find anything for Cadence to wear (he was looking in the wrong drawer) so he put her in a sleep sack. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a sleep sack! Hilarious! Here’s a photo of something he put her in earlier this week.

Yup, that’s yellow polka dotted socks. A pink diaper cover that usually is worn with a pink dress and  a white tshirt. He thought the bottoms were shorts. Funny kid.

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Sunday, May 31

Cadence slept for more than 8 hours last night! Yaa haa! We put her to sleep an hour earlier than normal (8:30 p.m.) and she didn’t wake until 4:45 a.m. It feels so great when you can sleep longer than just a few hours. We had a pretty quiet weekend…

Cadence and mommy are taking another trip! We are flying to Minnesota in about a week. We’d appreciate any prayers for a safe and QUIET flight to and from Minneapolis. We’re connecting in Philadelphia this time. Hopefully they don’t lose our baggage. They’ve got quite the reputation there for doing so…

Cadence is talking more and more each day. Today when she was napping in my arms, she snorted in her sleep. It was funny. I don’t know if it was a snore or what? But funny!

On Thursday afternoon we had lunch with a friend we met through out natural birthing classes. She has a daughter named Chelsea who was born just a week and half after Cadence. It’s nice to talk to someone who is experiencing the same things that you are….

Cadence is starting to LOVE her Baby Einstein Play Mat. She loves the big blue whale that hangs from the top. She’s beginning to play with her hands even more. Bringing them together, staring at them and hitting the toys hanging from the Baby Einstein. She makes all these cute lil’ noises when she’s laying there. She becomes an even greater joy each day.

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Tuesday, May 26

We’ve had a busy few days!!! Cadence saw her first movie tonite! ESPN had a free showing of the new Disney movie, “Up.”  I wasn’t too excited about bringing a baby to the movies, but Ben really wanted to, so we decided to try it out. I made a deal with Ben though. If we couldn’t get an aisle seat, I wasn’t staying. Alas, we got the aisle seat right by the exit. We placed her car seat on a theatre seat and she had a perfect view of the screen. You should have seen her eyes when the screen first lit up with the lights down…. Eyes wide open, completely entranced!

However, it wasn’t too long before Cadence got hungry…. so we fed her and that appeased her for a bit, but eventually Ben had to walk out of the theatre when Cadence got annoyed, bored or maybe she had gas? Either way, Ben had to walk out of the theatre with her a couple times and then I took her out once to change her wet diaper. After that, she fell asleep…. a pretty good experience!

Yesterday our church, “The Tabernacle” held its annual Memorial Day Picnic in Southington, CT. We got there a little late (we’re still getting used to packing for “three.”) Ben and I ran the children’s games, so our friends had plenty of time to hold and play with her. And then on Sunday Cadence and I attended our friend Shalom’s Baby Shower. It was beautifully done with yummy food and great decor!

Saturday we had a party at our house for Ben’s birthday… Cadence slept most of the time, but when she was awake she had smiles for everyone. Didn’t fuss much at all….

And then Friday we attended our first Pampered Chef party. Cadence did great there too! I often thank God that he blessed us with a baby that, for the most part, isn’t too high maintenance!!!

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Wednesday, May 20

Cadence has discovered SLEEPING! The last three nights Cadence has slept at least 6 hours, and one night nearly 8 hours. We are loving it! One forgets what its like to sleep more than 4 hours straight. She falls asleep between 9-10 p.m. and doesn’t wake until anytime between 3:30 and 5 a.m.

Yesterday was Daddy’s birthday, but he didn’t want to do anything crazy. We worked on cleaning up the yard and went to walk by the river. We ate lunch at Lasalle Market and had takeout from The Green Papaya for dinner where we love to order Drunken Noodles. If you’ve never tried Drunken Noodles (a thai dish) you should try it!

We spent the weekend in Pennsylvania with Ben’s family. Cadence did great on the ride down and back. On the ride down we drove through a crazy thunderstorm. It resulted in one of the most amazing rainbows we’ve ever witnessed. It stretched from east to west across the entire sky.

Nanny and Pappy Houser were thrilled to see their granddaughter. As were Nanny DJ and Aunt Shawnee. Cadence’s cousins Nate and Zach got to hold their niece for the first time. And cousin Maddie was great once again, caring and loving up on Cadence.

The Nannys watched Baby Cadence on Friday night while mom and dad went to a Hershey Bears game (which they lost!) But nonetheless we had a great time. Even Shawn and Maddie made it out to the game. And then Saturday we celebrated Daddy’s birthday with his family.

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Wednesday, May 13

Not too much new today. Daddy finally got a day off from work so he and Cadence got to spend some quality time together yesterday…  which allowed Mommy to have a couple hours to see some friends! But when she got home, she had already missed her daughter ; )

This morning Cadence let out her first little squeal of laughter. Totally cute! We cannot wait for the giggles to start.

This weekend we’ll be taking our first trip to Palmyra, PA where Ben’s family lives. I am a little nervous to drive five hours with her, but we’ll take some stops along the way to break up the time.

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Monday, May 11

I got to celebrate my first Mother’s Day yesterday with Cadence and Ben. I was awoke with Cadence wearing a “I LOVE MOMMY” onesie.

Besides a little breakfast in bed, Ben’s gift to me was some pretty aquamarine earrings that matched a necklace and ring we had purchased last year. Aquamarine is Cadence’s birthstone. And Ben wrote a card from Cadence to me that was really sweet. We planned to stay home and walk along the river to relax, but our friends Ashley, Mark and Claudia invited us over to grill out. We had a nice time and then purchased some flowers to plant around the house. We just never got them planted yesterday!

Cadence and mommy didn’t do too much other than that over the weekend. The dummy forecasters kept calling for rain, but NOPE it never rained. But mom was too nervous to take Cadence out of the house if it was going to storm like they kept saying!!!!

Cadence makes mommy and daddy laugh so much with her cute smiles, cooing and cough laugh she’s got going on these days…. She’s definitely put on weight because when I look back at the photos of her from just a month ago, she’s already changing so much. It’s sort of sad ; ( but at the same time, so much fun. Most mommy’s don’t look forward to changing dirty diapers, but Cadence loves laying on her changing table because it overlooks the backyard. She loves looking outside, so I get lots of smiles and talking out of her during that time. Such fun!

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Thursday, May 7

A week has passed since I last blogged about our adventures! We had a fantastic time in Florida with Nana! On Friday we took our first trip to Ft. Myers Beach. However, we went over too early in the day and it was far too bright for Cadence’s eyes, so she never made it out of her car seat (which we just brought on the beach with us!)

We should have headed over at sunset. Oh well! Next spring! Later that day we drove over to Cape Coral beach and took a few pictures. It was still a little bright, so we didn’t make it in the water. We put Cadence feet in the sand so she could experience something new. I think she either confused or overwhelmed by all the newness! Ha!

On Saturday Nana took Cadence for a walk (the weather was amazing while we were there!) And I packed up our things as we were scheduled to leave on a flight later that afternoon. I was nervous again about flying with her, but she did amazing! She slept nearly the entire time (even while a 5 year old boy sitting next to us vomited EVERYWHERE! The poor kid. And no, he didn’t have the H1N1 virus. I know some of you must be thinking that?!?!?) She only awoke to eat as we took off on the first leg (thru Orlando) and then again as we were landing in Hartford. Daddy was waiting for us as we walked into the main concourse. He missed his girls!

On Sunday we missed church because we were so exhausted the next morning and pretty much just rested all day. The last couple days Daddy has had to work a lot, so Cadence and mommy have been cooped up inside with all the rain going on outside. However, on Wednesday the weather cleared and we took a walk on one of the paths near the Farmington River. Today though, rain AGAIN!

Thursday, April 30

Today Cadence had her first experience in a hot tub! We kept the temperature to the low 90s and she seemed to really enjoy it. She wore her new Hawaiian swimsuit that Mark and Claudia bought her in Hawaii. The look on her face was pure relaxation. I thought she would hate it, but there were no cries, just a calm demeanor. Mommy loved it!

And then yesterday we went on a boat ride! Cadence’s first trip on the water. It was a little bright out in the ocean for Cadence, but we had a really nice time. Grandpa Bob drove us out to Ft. Myers Beach where we used to spend a lot of vacations when Mommy was younger. The weather was perfect.

Cadence’s uncle Chris was able to drive down from Tampa, FL and spend the day with us. It was the first time Cadence and Chris were able to meet. I think they enjoyed each others company!

That night we had dinner with Chris before he had to drive back to Tampa.

Wednesday, April 29

We made it to Florida safely!!!!

Cadence was a gem. I was worried that we would only encounter rude people at the airport because I was carrying a a baby, but most everyone was very helpful. Daddy was able to help us get everything on the belt, but after we went thru the metal detector we were on our own! EEEKKKKK!

Thankfully a very nice couple in front of me helped me get organized after everything came through. After I got Cadence back into her car seat she started to cry. I walked directly to the bathroom because I wanted to change her before we got on the plane. I have never seen a changing table in a plane bathroom! When I started to change Cadence she was SCREAMING at the top of her lungs. If anyone walked by they would  probably assume I was beating her! It was almost funny how crazy upset she was, so I changed her as quickly as possible and carried her the rest of the way to the gate. All the while, pushing the stroller and car seat along. Cadence continued to cry. I must have been quite the sight!

Once we got to the gate I nursed her and she calmed for a bit, but then decided for whatever reason she was still upset. And then our plane got delayed!!! When Cadence stopped crying I walked over to the little store (keep in mind, I am still carrying Cadence and pushing the stroller! HA!) I needed to get some water in case I needed to make formula for Cadence on the flight. And of course, I wanted to buy some food and candy for the flight! I made the purchases and made my way back to the gate where Cadence decided to get upset for a short bit. After I calmed her, a wonderful woman came over to talk to me about Cadence. She was so nice and so understanding. I decided to enlist her help! When I walked up to board (I am now part of the “if you have children you can preboard group!”) I asked the nice woman if she would help me get organized. She was more than happy to help! I had her hold Cadence while I gate checked the car seat and stroller. We were the first ones on the plane, so I wasn’t rushed along. There was a man behind me who was very nice and kept saying “Take your time, take your time.”  I was thanking God that he sent people my way who were so nice!

The flight attendant took my bag and I was able to carry Cadence to our row. The very last row. I had pre-picked that seat though because I wanted to be as far from people as possible in case Cadence lost her mind! I did not have to worry though! Cadence was amazing. She fell asleep before we took off and had the pacifier in her mouth, so I didn’t need to wake her to nurse her. I had been told by numerous people to nurse her on the way up and on the way down to help ease any pressure on her ears. However, I didn’t want to wake her since she was sleeping!

We had no issues on takeoff. She slept through nearly the entire flight. Only waking at the very end when she got hungry. I nursed her on the way down and she did beautifully!

The only bad thing? We got in late to Charlotte, so I had to haul my butt from Concourse E to Concourse C and they are nowhere near one another. And I first had to get the stroller and car seat ready and try to find a restroom to use and change her in. There was no way I was getting up mid flight to use the restroom when she was resting so nice on my lap.

We found a family restroom and were on our way… I wasn’t running, but was walking very fast! All the way Cadence decided to get upset so there were onlookers the entire time! One guy said “She must be hungry!” Yeah, thanks guy! If I didn’t have to walk 10 miles to the next gate and take a freaken elevator to get there, I would stop and feed her!!! (I didn’t say that, but wanted to! Ha!)

I found a monitor along the way to double check my gate and it said “BOARDING.” Shoot! I started in on a short jog at that point! We got to the gate and I was one of the last people on board. The gate employee was very nice and offered me an entire row that was free of any passengers. Yeah! I wouldn’t have to worry about annoying anyone. There was just one other passenger in the back with me and he had requested to move back there because he snores. So I figured he couldn’t get upset if my baby started crying if he was snoring the entire way! But I need not worry once again. Cadence slept until the end of the flight when she awoke to nurse. We walked off the plane, got situated with our bag, stroller and car seat and met Nana at the security gate. Cadence was awake and pleasant. We took a quick photo in the airport and were on our way to Nana and Grandpa Bob’s house.

After arriving at the house Cadence and I went to sleep and slept pretty good! I was a little worried she’d be out of sorts, but she did great. The next day our friends, Carol and Norm and Bob’s family came by for a visit. It had been years since we’d seen some of the family, so it was nice to see everyone! Mommy went fishing off the pier and caught a couple Red Snappers while Cadence slept. Just catch and release. We didn’t keep any of them. It was a beautiful day and night. Loving the weather down here!

Sunday, April 26

Last night was the first night that Cadence only woke up for one feeding! She slept from 10:30 – 4 a.m. Yaa haa! And then fell back asleep at 5 a.m. (She was being a little fussy.) And then she didn’t awake until 8:30 a.m. when we all got up to get ready for church. I’m hoping this will turn into a regular event, but I have a feeling the warm weather last night might have aided in the deeper sleep. Today it is 85 degrees outside, but feels like 100! I should have broke out the shorts! Maybe she’ll sleep well again tonite. Here’s crossing our fingers!

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Saturday, April 25

Cadence is going on her first flight! Her mom must be crazy huh? We’re flying to Florida on Monday evening to hang with her Nana. We’ll return on Saturday evening. Daddy has to work around the clock for the next two weeks so Mommy decided she mind as well take a trip! We’ll be visiting Cape Coral, Florida. I think daddy will miss his little girl, but he’ll be so busy with work it should make the time go by real quick. Mommy is just concerned about Cadence’s little ears during the flights. Here’s hoping she has healthier ears than her mommy!

Today Cadence enjoyed watching the NFL Draft with her daddy. It’s so hilarious how much it entertains her little eyes.

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Tuesday, April 21

So Cadence finally had a dirty diaper! And it was quite the site! Just imagine red clay – yup, that’s what it looked like! Is this what formula poop looks like? The scent… yup, not so great either! Thankfully she’s at least gaining some weight!

She napped awesome today. A couple hours here, another hour there… and I love her personality that is starting to emerge. She just cracks me up each and every day.

Today after feeding her I was holding her over my shoulder patting her back… and got distracted over the phone. I didn’t hear her burp, but when I went to lay her down a few minutes later to change her, her face was covered in spit up! It was sad and hilarious all in the same breath. I took a photo of her face and will post it on here in the next day or so. Terrible mom I am!!!

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Monday, April 20

Cadence had a busy weekend! On Saturday we walked along the Farmington River and had lunch at Lasalle Market. We also walked over to the candy store, The Sweet Shoppe, to buy some yummy treats! Mom was exhausted by the end of the walk and they only walked 3-4 miles! Thankfully its been 6 weeks since Cadence was born and mom finally has permission to start working out!

On Sunday we attended church, then attended a fundraiser for a missions trip at our church. Later we went to a “green” festival where our friend Shal had a booth selling organic cleaning supplies! Finally, we attended a birthday party for AJ, who turned two years old! Cadence was a champ! She was a happy baby all afternoon (which mom and dad love!)

We got home from all the activity around 5:30 on Sunday and we all took a long nap, from 7 until 9:30 p.m. It felt great!

Today daddy had to work all day – from 9 a.m. to midnight – so Cadence and mommy hung out all day. It was rainy out, so we had to spend the day indoors. Cadence is still doing well with her EASY routine. Eating, Activity, Sleeping (Y is for You – which means mommy!) If we keep her on that routine, she is a very happy baby. Sometimes she fights us on the naps, but mostly she follows the EASY routine that The Baby Whisperer Book recommends.

Cadence is starting to coo and talk in her own little baby way. She is hilarious when she sounds like she’s trying to carry a conversation with the window or ceiling fan. I wonder what goes on in that head of hers!

On a negative note, because of the formula, Cadence hasn’t gone poo in nearly a day and a half…..

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Friday, April 16

Today Cadence and mom return to the doctor to see if this formula thing has worked. I feel awful that I am giving it to her, but billions of babies have eaten it, so it can’t be that bad right?!?!?!? And just an update… Shockingly Cadence took a bottle around midnight on Thursday, so we didn’t have to use a droplet or anything crazy to get more food in her.  I watch her daddy feed her and it’s so cute. How come its cuter when he feeds her?!?!!? Haha.

Update: Cadence successfully gained 6 ounces over the last two days! Yeah! The formula obviously worked. I think the fact that I haven’t been hydrating myself enough is having an effect on Cadence’s slow weight gain. Therefore, I am going to start drinking water like crazy!

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Wednesday, April 14

Cadence has discovered TELEVISION! We were rocking on the glider in our room when I noticed Cadence’s attention diverted toward the television. She didn’t look away from the television for more than five minutes. Which in baby time, is a very long time! We walked out of the room to change her and returned to the room. Guess where her eyes went? To the television! My only guess is that she likes the lighting that comes off the television screen. She loves looking out the window and at lights in the house, so that has now extended into the lighting on the TV.

She is getting more and more curious about everything around her. She smiles more and more each day and I just adore it. So far I have only managed to catch it on camera once or twice, but I’ll keep trying!!! Here’s our first attempt. It’s from my IPhone, so the quality is sub par.

Today we had a doctor appointment to see if Cadence gained any more weight – and it was a disappointment. She has only gained about 3.5 ounces in the past TWO WEEKS.  The last time we went in she was at her birth weight, 7 lbs 15 ounces, and now she is 8 lbs 2.5 ounces. She’s been eating every two hours to try and put some weight on, so its a bummer that she hasn’t put more on. The doctor wants us to supplement an ounce of formula each time she eats. UGHHHH!!!

Mom’s been reading this book called “The Baby Whisperer.” And it has been a life saver. So far, it has completely changed Mom and Cadence’s days. Cadence is into a routine… Eating, Playing, Sleeping and then we start all over again. Sounds so simple, yet I couldn’t figure it out until I read the book! I highly recommend it to any new mom! Lots of great information in there for all ages!

Cadence has started cooing and making cute little baby noises. I love it. I can’t imagine how much fun it will be when she starts laughing. I can’t wait!

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Tuesday, April 13

So it’s been some time since we’ve written!! This past weekend Ben’s family came to visit, including Cadence’s Nanny, Pappy and Great Nanny DJ.  Nanny Houser offered to watch Cadence so daddy and mommy could have an afternoon date to see “Fast & Furious.” We both thought it was great! It isn’t an Emmy winner, but there are enough car chases and good looking actors/actresses to keep you interested! However, the entire time I was at the movie, I was thinking “Is Cadence being good?” “Is she hungry?” (Because she’s breast fed and not AT ALL interested in taking a bottle! Anyone have any suggestions?!?!?) I had no need to worry though because she did great! She didn’t get hungry until we were actually turning onto our street. Perfect timing!

I also started reading a couple books on getting babies to nap and it seems to be working! Cadence is starting to sleep in her bassinet, THANK GOD! And she’s continued to sleep well at night pretty well! Today Cadence took three naps which is a huge milestone for us. When she gets her naps, she’s such a happy baby! And mom gets to rest and/or get some errands done around the house!

Cadence is starting to smile and I am loving it! She smiles with her whole face… It’s beautiful. It absolutely makes my day. Yesterday afternoon I experienced the polar opposite emotion from Cadence for the first time. She let out a scream! She was laying underneath her play activity mat and was looking at herself in a play mirror when she happend to turn her head and a blue whale that hangs above her scared her for whatever reason??? It was so sad though to hear her scream in fear! I immediately picked her up to soothe her cries.

Cadence’s Nanny also offered to watch Cadence so Mommy could get her hair cut and highlighted. She was feeling a little ugly these days! Again, I was a little worried … curious if Cadence was crying? Napping? Hungry? I think she was a little of each, but made it through the afternoon okay! Speaking of hungry…

Daddy tried to give her a bottle on Saturday and she was NOT HAVING IT.

She had absolutely no interest. That’s gonna be a problem…. we’ll have to try another bottle, at another time.

After a nice weekend with Ben’s family, we celebrated Easter with them before they returned home. And Cadence wore the new pink dress that her Aunt Shawnee got her.

Then we spent the rest of the day at our friends home where we celebrate Easter every year, for the past few years. It was the first time Cadence would spend a considerable amount of time outside our home (besides running to the store or going to church.) She did okay, but I think being held by so many people and being in a new place was a little much for her. She got a little fussy and then spit up all her milk… That night she slept okay, but not great. And then she spit up again in the morning (which she does very infrequently.)  I think next time we’ll spend a little less time out of the house. By Monday afternoon though, she was back to herself.

Wednesday, April 8

Cadence is one month old today! I cannot believe one month has already passed. While the birth seems like it was a year ago already, it still is fresh in my mind. (Maybe it’s all those doctor bills coming in now – Ha!)

Today Cadence and mom took a walk on the path near the Farmington River. It was a little chilly, but the sun made up for it. Cadence fell asleep (that was the whole point of going!) She didn’t take a nap the ENTIRE DAY on Tuesday, so mom needed to make sure she got at least one nap in today – which she did!

Cadence’s nanny and pappy and great grandmother will be visiting tomorrow when Ben has to travel for work to both Atlantic City and Dover, Delaware. It will be nice to have someone here with us!

Tuesday, April 7

Cadence was quite fussy today. She would not, for the life of her, take a nap! Her eyes will get heavy and her breathing gets heavy like she’s about to fall into slumber, but then two seconds later, Baam! Her eyes are wide open! Can anyone explain why she does that? ; )  All in all, today was a rough day!

Sunday, April 5

Cadence wore her new outfit to church today, along with one of those baby stretchy headbands that you see newborns wearing all the time.

Well about halfway through church I took a look to see if it was making a mark on her head (it didn’t feel tight, I just wanted to check) and it looked and FELT as though her poor, tiny head was INDENTED! I nearly freaked out, but Shawnee assured me that my baby’s head would be fine. Note to self: do not put one of those on her head again for quite some time.

Which reminds me, Claudia had yet, another gift for Cadence. A very cute bunny ear headband (not like the stretchy kind, so she’ll be able to wear it – check out the photo!) And some cute colorful socks for Cadence’s tiny little feet. Adorable.

Saturday, April 4

This morning Cadence woke up around 7:15 a.m. and had no interest in falling back asleep, so we went downstairs to eat some cereal. Madz was up and joined us in the kitchen while Mom ate some Honey Nut Cheerios. Madz had a beautiful picture she had drawn for her cousin Cadence and we all decided it should be framed and put up in Cadence’s room.

In the afternoon we went to Collinsville and visited Phoebe’s Easel where the Easter Bunny was visiting! Madz and Shawnee made cute Easter baskets and we all took photos with the Easter Bunny.

Then we drove over to Canton where Aunt Shawnee SPOILED her new niece and bought her four adorable outfits! Including some cute little hats for Cadence to wear.  One of the outfits she will wear for Easter next Sunday.

We all took naps in the early evening and caught up on some much needed rest.

Friday, April 3

Our friend Ashley stayed the night and was a fantastic help to Cadence and I.  Mom was able to wash some clothes and pick up the house while Ashley played and held Cadence. Daddy came home around 4 p.m. while we were sleeping and unfortunately awoke Mom from a nap! Doesn’t daddy know to let mom sleep when she finally gets a chance to nap? He thought it was more important to model some WWE wrestling belts that he has on loan from Vince McMahon. Yeah, thanks Ben!

Later that night Cadence’s Aunt Shawnee and cousin Madz came to visit. Mommy was exhausted so she didn’t see them, but they did get to see Cadence before falling asleep. They arrived around 10:15 p.m. so they were pretty tired themselves. We’ll all spend time together tomorrow!!!

Thursday, April 2

Daddy leaves again on another road trip today! He will only be gone overnight, so our friend Ashley is coming to hang with us to help pass the time! Cadence amazes me with the amount of sleep she is pulling each night! Last night nearly two 3-4 hour stretches!!!!

Today our friendly neighbors, Kate and her daughters Paige and Lauren came over for a visit! They brought Cadence some cute new outfits and that ring stacking toy that we each had as kids! We’re blessed to have great neighbors on both sides of our house.

Wednesday, April 1

Cadence is taking a nap without my arms wrapped around her! Hallelujah! Almost too good to be true. Today I layed her on an activity playmat and she actually seemed to enjoy it.  She did that leg kicking thing that babies do when they’re happy! Perhaps her little personality is starting to come out?!?!?

We took a trip to the mall today with the Khoda family. Cadence did great, but we did need to stop off and eat twice! Which reminded mom that she needed to buy a nursing top while she was there! She is sick of wearing button down shirts!

Tuesday, March 31

We had a great night of sleep last night! Cadence slept for four hours, ate, slept for a couple more hours, ate and then a couple more! An awesome night!!!

Today was Mom and Cadence’s first road trip without daddy! Mom was NERVOUS for her first trip solo. Amazingly, Cadence did great! She only cried in the driveway! The rest of the drive was calm and quiet! God was having mercy on me!

Cadence had a pediatrician appointment to get weight today.  During her last visit the doctor said she’s a little underweight, so they wanted to track how much she had gained over the past week.  After laying on that AWFUL cold scale again, they said she had put on a couple ounces. However, she is still a little underweight for being three weeks old. The pediatrician gave me some suggestions on how we could boost that up in the coming weeks.

Also during the visit (and for the second time) the doctor said “she’s vigorous!” I am not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing??? We’re going back in two weeks to get her weight checked again.

But let me just back up here…. before any of that happened, I got to the doctor’s office an hour EARLY! I thought the appointment was for 1 p.m. It was in fact, for 2 p.m.! Of course that would have to happen today of all days! So I walk back out to the car, load Cadence up and decide to go to the bank to open a savings account for Cadence. We were blessed this week with money gifts from friends and family.  But of course when I got into the bank the line was a MILE LONG! What the heck? I will never go to the bank on the last day of the month again! And then naturally while we’re standing in line Cadence wakes up and wants to eat! I had to get out of line and feed her in the middle of the bank. (Yes, I had a cover to put over me!) We finally got some help and Cadence now officially has a savings account for her college fund! We’ve got a long way to go!

We were going to go for a walk today because it was beautiful outside, but mom hadn’t eaten lunch and it was 3 p.m. She didn’t think she’d make it very far without some nutrition! Tomorrow maybe?

Monday, March 30

Today was the first day home alone without daddy! He returned to work this morning! A little scary, but we made it without any major bumps or bruises! Cadence had a cry fest for an hour straight, but eventually she chilled out long enough for our friend Megan to stop by with her son, Luke. What a cutie he is! He was amazingly good, while Cadence decided to be a little fussy. I fed her and she was good to go for the rest of the visit. It was nice to talk to Megan because her son is four months old and the first few months are still fresh in her mind. I was able to ask her a lot of questions and bounce ideas off her!

Cadence awoke at 9 a.m. this morning and would not take a nap! She would close her eyes for about 10-15 minutes, but no solid nap. Finally at 4 p.m. she fell asleep for a couple hours. Unfortunately it was on my left arm. I was too scared to move it, worried she’d wake up! So I layed there…. passing the time by sending photos and emails on my Iphone.

Later in the day, our friends, the McCollums stopped by to meet Cadence. They brought gifts from the Harves family and also themselves. Cadence got a cute outfit, an adorable pig puppet and some books to add to her library!

Cadence continues to discover her little hands!

Saturday and Sunday, March 28 & 29

We were sad to see Nana go on Saturday! The time went by really fast! We spent the afternoon in Collinsville, taking Cadence for a walk and then had lunch at LaSalle Market. We also took some photos while on our walk.

We then brought Nana to the airport where we had to say goodbye. I am sad she won’t see Cadence for 3.5 months, but hopefully it will go by crazy fast.

We spent the rest of the day at home, just resting up.

On Sunday, we attended church and then our friend Dave stopped by to meet Cadence. Mommy was exhausted and could barely lift her head to say Hello, but daddy was able to hang with Cadence and Dave for a couple hours.

Friday, March 27

Daddy came home last night around 11 p.m. after a couple long days of work. He missed his little girl.  Then last night Cadence slept awesome! Mom and dad love that! Nearly 4 hours and then a feeding, then 3 hours….  Right now Cadence and Nana are taking a nap together.

Thursday, March 26

Cadence had her first “let’s wake up in the middle of the night and stay up for 2 hours!” sort of night. Not so fun for Mom! Dad was on the road for work, so it was just mommy and Cadence. Thankfully Nana was here so mommy could take an early evening nap!

For the first time today I saw a tear roll out of Cadence’s eyes. She’s cried plenty, but no tears until today. Just a little one! And then during a nap today she found her thumb! Maybe she’ll be a thumb sucker after all!

Today we had lunch with our friends Mark and Claudia Castro. Cadence slept the entire time… oh well! Mark and Claudia are Cadence’s pseudo-grandparents. We love them! Other than that, we had a pretty quiet day.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Last night Cadence and mommy slept in the bedroom alone while daddy slept in the basement! No, not because he made mommy mad (haha) but because he had to get up early to travel for work. He returns home tomorrow night. Cadence was a good little baby last night, sleeping from 11 p.m.until 9:30 a.m. with three feedings inbetween. It was a good night!

Today Nana, Cadence and mommy went to the pediatricians office where everything went well. The doctor said we just need to increase feedings (believe it or not!) so Cadence can put some more weight on. She was born at 7 lbs. 15 ounces and is currently 7 lbs. 13 ounces. She should be over 8 lbs. at this point. We’ll work on that!

We also took Cadence on her first walk by the Farmington River. She did great! It was beautiful weather outside! And mommy actually figured out how to do the car seat and stroller without daddy’s help! Maybe she’ll make it after all!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

After a feeding frenzy today, Cadence finally chilled out about 30 minutes before we left for the airport for a special visitor! Cadence’s Nana landed today! They are already bonding. She fell fast asleep on Nana’s shoulder after getting to know one another for a short while.

Tomorrow Cadence will have her second Dr. appointment. We love our pediatrician, Cindy St. Onge. We’re forgoing some vaccinations and she has been supportive of our decision as parents. Love that!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Cadence had a couple visitors today! Our friends Lisa and Navid Mahooti visited and brought a beautiful organic outfit for Cadence. Unfortunately Cadence decided it would be a great time to have a cry fest! She has been feeding like crazy, I sort of feel like a one stop pump for her! Ha! I am guessing she is going through a growth spurt??? My friend Spring also stopped by for a quick visit and Cadence was much more well behaved!

We took her Band-Aid off today and her belly button is looking much better. We decided to let it air out, hoping it will dry out the rest.

Today we also drove to St. Mary’s Hospital so Cadence could have a hearing test done. She didn’t like the ear phones put on her head very much so she started screaming! Ha! I offered to feed her while they did the test because I knew it would keep her quiet. It worked perfect! I felt bad for her, having all those tubes taped to her body, but she passed with flying colors!!!

Then we walked over to the midwives office where I had my two week check up. It was more or less an appointment to check on my mental health, to make sure I wasn’t experiencing any baby blues. We also shared with Jessica, the midwife on call that day, about our awful experience with Paula. She suggested we write a letter to Paula to get closure. I have a feeling we’re not the only ones who have had bad experiences with Paula.

Saturday and Sunday, March 21-22, 2009

This weekend was pretty quiet, which was nice. Saturday afternoon we took our first “post-baby” trip to Babies R Us. I was happy it took us two weeks before we had to go!  Ha! We also drove over to Westfarms Mall and picked up a few things. Ben made the observation that we’ve become invisible to one demographic and have become visible to another! And I think he’s right! All of a sudden parents everywhere in the mall smile at us and glance inside the car seat wondering about our cute lil’ girl.

Cadence’s belly button finally fell off! It looks a little pussy, so we tried applying some alcohol to it and she didn’t like it too much! So we covered it with a Band-Aid, hoping it would help. We’ll have to check it out tomorrow.

On Sunday we attended church and our friends took turns holding Cadence. I don’t think Cadence realizes how many people already love her!

Friday, March 20, 2009

So today Ben had quite the surprise when he went to change Cadence’s diaper! She pee’d all over him! haha. Way to go Cadence! Mommy’s been pooped on, Daddy’s been pee’d on! He panicked a little – calling to me from the upstairs! “Christina she pee’d all over me!” So I tried to quickly put a bath together in our bathroom sink.  (I heard Daddy say “I’m gonna throw up!” as I was getting a towel and washcloth.) He was covered in pee, Cadence’s back was covered in pee and daddy was holding her in all the pee mess! haha.

At first Cadence seemed to enjoy the warm bath water, but when we had to finish rinsing her hair she got a little fussy.  And then she was in full out cry mode!

Poor girl ; (  I wrapped her in her white and pink towel and warmed her up as  daddy got out of his pee filled clothes… To calm her daddy gave her the pacifier for a little bit. (we’re trying to keep the pacifier to night time!!)

Her belly button is starting to fall off and it looks so painful….  but I don’t want to touch it because I want it to fall off on its own. I hope it falls off soon!!!! Poor little girl….

Today a couple of friends from Arizona are coming to visit with their little girl, Vivi. She is just a few months old, born in December!

Daddy put together Cadence’s “Baby Einstein” floor activity mat. Cadence at first seemed mesmerized by it, but then just got bored ; )  don’t think she can see anything but the lights on it….

Cadence’s hair is already starting to lighten up! That was quick!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Cadence had another pretty good night of sleep…. about 7 hours total with some feedings inbetween. And then this morning at the crack of dawn Cadence’s grandparents, Randy and Tristy flew back to Minnesota. We were sad to see them go    ; (   Cadence won’t see them again until July when we return to Minnesota for Jesse and Lynsey’s wedding reception.

Today is a lazy day for Cadence, mom and dad.  With the rain outside and the NCAA tournament underway, it is the perfect day to lay around and do NOTHING. Cadence slept a lot today which gave Mom and Dad some freedom to relax just a little! (but not too much! haha) So far, dad is beating mom in the March Madness Brackets!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Last night was another good night of sleep! 4 hours of sleep, an hour of eating, changing, etc and then she slept for another 3 hours. Thankfully! We usually wake up around 7:15 a.m. and don’t go back to sleep. Well, Cadence does… but I don’t. She’s been falling asleep for the night between 10 – 11 p.m. I try to get to sleep shortly thereafter so I can catch up on some ZZZZZZ’s.

Cadence’s grandparents, Randy and Tristy, leave tomorrow ; (  So today is our last day to hang.

Their plane leaves at 5:45 a.m YUCK! Thankfully Ben is going to take them to the airport. A little much to get Cadence dressed up and out the door at 3:45 a.m. We can barely make it out the door at 2 in the afternoon!

Cadence won’t see them again until July, so that’s a bummer!!! But her Nana (my mom) is coming into town next week, so she’ll get to meet another grandparent! And we found out yesterday that Aunt Shawnee’s family (Ben’s sister) will probably come visit the first weekend in April.

Today we dressed Cadence up in one of the camoflauge outfits that her grandpa Randy got her at Cabela’s. It is a cute onesie with ruffles on the collar and back. We took some photos and posted one on this site.  She’s so cute and I think grandpa was proud!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s Cadence’s aunt Shawnee’s Birthday today!

Last night was a good night of sleep! She slept for 4.5 hours straight, ate and then slept another 2.5 hours. Yeahh! I hope it becomes a normal sleep pattern!!!

We went out to another antique shop and a few other stores before stopping off for lunch. An unexpected gift was given to Cadence. We were in the middle of lunch when a man came up and said this may seem strange, but I saw you have a newborn and just wanted to contribute something to her and he dropped $20 on the table. I couldn’t believe it! I was in shock! I could barely say anything other than “Wow, thank you!” I don’t even remember if I said anything else?!?!? Our waitress came up and we asked if she knew his name and she said No, but that he would be on air from Fox 61 starting in May, so we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled! He was very sweet to do that! We’re going to start a college fund for her with some of the other money gifts we’ve recieved in the past couple weeks.

Cadence’s grandfather Randy bought a piggy bank for Cadence yesterday. It’s very cute and we’ll start putting our change in it to contribute to her fund every time it fills up. I can’t imagine what college will cost in 18 years! I hope to God she acquires some skill or has a higher IQ than her parents to get a scholarship! haha.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Last night wasn’t as great for sleeping. She slept on and off for about two hours a piece…. We took another adventure outdoors (I know, I am crazy bringing a newborn everywhere!) We went to LaSalle Market in Collinsville, CT. I forgot Cadence’s hat so I wrapped a blanket around her head to keep her warm and when we walked into the restaurant I was asked by the woman taking orders if I had a package or baby in my arms. I said a baby and she asked “How old is she? She’s tiny!” I said 8 days! They were a little surprised. A woman standing at the counter turned around and said “I brought my baby outside at 4 days, but she wasn’t nearly as cute as your baby. Otherwise I would have gone out more!” I laughed aloud – and I immediately thought oh my gosh, what mom says that about their own baby?

After lunch we went to the Antique store in Collinsville (one of Cadence’s grandpas favorite places to go – antique shops I mean.)  We then went to the Sweet Shoppe in Collinsville and Tristy found the “NEW DAD” Willow Tree. Its a collectible of a father holding his little baby. So cute! Tristy purchased it for him and gave it to Ben last night.

Other than that, a pretty normal day!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Today was Cadence’s first day at church! She got a warm welcome by everyone. The church even put together a video presentation with three of her photos set to music. It was really nice. Claudia/Mark and the Taricani family both had gifts for Cadence. Claudia and Mark’s gift was a cute fairy skirt and The Taricani family gave her a pretty pink pearl necklace and parents handbook!

Cadence slept through nearly all the service and awoke hungry! Shocker! The girl eats like nothing else. But I guess that means she’s healthy! During service my dad kept trying to wake her up and I kept hitting him to tell him to stop. I think he must have needed more entertainment.

Today we had more visitors – The Hays family who live in the same town as us. They gave us the glider that we rock Cadence on every night. It was a huge blessing to us.

Cadence seems to be noticing more things with her eyes… she looks around and seems more interested. And although I am sure its gas, she smiles a little more ; )

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Today was quite the adventure! We had a newborn baby shoot in Kent, CT. Cadence of course wanted to eat and eat and eat and eat when we first got there. Over the course of a few hours she ate four separate times. We took a couple family photos…

Check out a couple teaser shots on this website:

http://lenscapes-photo.blogspot.com

She wore cute lil’ hats, she was laying on a fur blanket, etc… I cannot wait to get all the photos back! Our family is going to love them. During the course of the shoot we had a little SURPRISE! While tying a pink bonnet around Cadence’s head, Cadence decided it was a fantastic time to POOP! And it wasn’t just a little, it was an explosion. She farted so loud that it sounded like a champagne bottle popped! I was holding her so alas I was the lucky girl who got poop all over her shirt, pants and socks. Oh my, it was disgusting looking! It looked like mustard! haha. I was a little taken aback, but I think Ben was the one who was most disturbed – and he didn’t even get any poop on him!!!! Melissa, the photographer, was very understanding and didn’t seem upset at all. All in all, I think we got some excellent shots.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Last night was a good night with Cadence! The only time she didn’t sleep was when she was eating!

We took a trip to Cabela’s in East Hartford. We were there about 20 minutes before Cadence decided she needed to eat – NOW! There just happen to be an oversized comfy stuffed chair in the middle of the store, so I covered up and fed her. Then we walked around the store where my dad picked out a couple cute camoflauge outfits. One was a dress and the other is a onesie with white ruffles on the back.

We also experienced our first public “restroom” change. It went pretty well I think! We survived!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Today was a new adventure! Cadence had her first bath and she did a lot better than I thought she would! While there were plenty of tears, it wasn’t the blood curling screams I thought we’d hear.  Once we got the towel wrapped around her she was good to go!

But of course, within just a couple minutes of getting her clean, dressing her and brushing her hair, Cadence decided it was a great time to vomit ala “The Excorcist.” It was hilarious! Just a straight line of vomit! Haha!

Tesly and Ray Nolan dropped off pizza for us this afternoon! It was YUMMY! We have some great friends to think of us and feed us!

We also had our first evening trip out. My father, Randy, celebrated his 54th birthday and we went to Dakotah for dinner. She did okay, mainly just ate and slept the entire time we were there. The restaurant was pretty quiet, so we didn’t disturb too many people! ; )

Last night wasn’t too great though…. Cadence was really upset and we couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Eventually we figured out it was bad gas pains. Once she was calm, she fell asleep for nearly the remainder of the night. I was getting concerned because she wouldn’t eat, so I thought perhaps because we gave her a pacifier the day before and she was confused. But after she calmed down, she finally ate! I was soooooo thankful! We’re going to cut WAY back on her using that pacifier. Only at night… and only if she is real fussy!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Today Cadence’s grandparents, Randy and Tristy flew in from Minnesota! Her other grandparents, Cheryl and Ed, were leaving for home in PA after spending the first few days with her.  Last night was a good night – she slept nearly the entire night except when feeding. It was a good night! She sleeps a little in her bassinet, but I also like to have her sleep next to me. I love listening to her breathe! And I am paranoid to have her sleep elsewhere ; )

Cadence is already amazing me! When the pacifier starts to fall out of her mouth, she throws her hand up to hold it in. She doesn’t hold it perfectly, but enough to stop it from falling out.

Food was brought to us again, by Ben’s co-worker Sean, who dropped off a spread!!! Chicken, vegetables, rice, bread and even dessert! It was amazing! I was so thankful!!!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Last night was tough… Cadence ate off and on for 4.5 hours straight. To say the least it was a long night! And I was sore!!! So we gave her a pacifier which worked fantastic.

Following the long night, I spent most of the day in bed (doctors orders!) Ben was sweet and brought me food and ran errands. Ben’s parents helped keep the house in order and watched Cadence so I could sleep a little here and there. I am in a little pain and can’t walk too much. I think I walked down the stairs just once the entire day.

And I think our cats hate us! They’re not understanding what this “new little being” is doing in their house! I think eventually they’ll come around. They’re just confused! Ha Ha.

Our friends, Jack and Maddy Chamis stopped by the house to drop off some lasagna made courtesy of Sally Brown, which was very sweet. Two days in a row the Chamis’ have stopped over!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Our first day home!!!! We didn’t get much sleep, but it was wonderful to be able to sleep in our own bed last night. We left the hospital around 11:30 p.m. and got home a little after midnight. Cadence slept nearly the whole

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