Life as a Bober

Summer

2011-09-09T22:40:00.000-05:00

Fishing at Eagle Lake on Memorial Day weekend

This is fishing, right?

On Memorial Day, 6 months

27 weeks

28 weeks

29 weeks

Father's Day on the boat with Phillip

Riding the tractor with Grandpa Phil, Father's Day

The first of many trips to the pool

Cade and Eli

Finally a smile!

Marcy and JR at the bachelorette party (JR just stopped by)

The cousins

Me and my sis

7 months on the quilt made by Amy's mom

Cade and Daddy in Eagle Lake

Happy 4th of July

The floaty boat!

4th of July

32 weeks

Cade can ride a bike but can't stand pictures

My big boy

34 weeks

Baby loves his kitty

8 months

Wanting to model his new shirt

36 weeks

Love the curl on the top of his head!

Look I can stand (37 weeks)

38 weeks

Cade and Eli at the park

9 months

Cade and Hannah at Chipotle

At the State Fair (2 teeth)

Petting the calf born on my birthday

Driving the virtual reality tractor and loving it!

40 weeks

41 weeks (4 teeth)

Cade's and Cole's News

2011-06-01T18:57:00.043-05:00

Cade's news: He is now wearing undies and has been for about a month now. I think we can say that he is officially potty trained! He pooped in the potty for the first time all by himself. I left the potty chair in his room when I was going to hop in the shower and before I could even close the bathroom door he came out and said that he had pooped. He has had very few accidents and has been willing to go in public toilets. I think that the most fun about the peeing in a public place is that there is either a automatic flush or a fun hand dryer.

3 year stats: 28 lbs 6 oz (15th percentile) and 36 1/4" (25th percentile)

Cole's news: He can sit up by himself! I decided to see if he could sit on his own about 2 weeks before he was 6 months and he was able to do it. He loves watching the dancing bear toy just like Cade did. He also is rolling all over the place and can do so from either his tummy or his back. He now chooses to sleep on his tummy.

6 month stats: 17 lbs 11 oz (52nd percentile) and 26.4 in (46th percentile) and Head circumference 17.5" (68th percentile)

Happy Easter (5 months, 21 weeks)22 weeks
Cheesy smile!
23 weeks
Mother's Day
Cole loves his feet
At the nature center
Look at the snakes!
Cutie pie (24 weeks)
I can sit up! (May 16th)
At the nature center with grandma
Chasing the ducks
Cade and Eli
25 weeks

Cade playing with Cole's belly

6 months!

Chuck E. Cheese's House

2011-04-27T11:22:00.032-05:00

Cade celebrated his 3rd birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. He calls it Chuck E. Cheese's house and was so excited to visit the "mouse house". We invited his grandparents, aunts and uncles and his friends. There was a total of 11 kids and about 20 adults. Huge party but huge fun. Chuck E Cheese is of course a little chaotic but the smile on that 3 year old's face made up for any discomfort. He was so happy he galloped around the place for 4 hours! He danced with Chuck E and he even got in the ticket blaster with grandpa Phil. Even with all of the tickets flying in his face and his safety glasses falling off of his face, there was still a permanent smile plastered on his face. His requests for his cake were that it was chocolate and that it had cars on it with wheels that move. So, he got a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Mater on top. Mater is his favorite vehicle. Since the kids were having so much fun, we waited to open gifts until the next day. It took him 3 hours to open his gifts on his birthday morning. This was mostly because he wanted to play with every gift after opening it. He loved all of his gifts. Once he was done, Sean and I took him to birthday lunch at McD's and some shopping at Target with his birthday money from grandpa Phil. On Sunday, he got a bike and helmet from us and a wagon from grandma and grandpa. Then at Target, he bought a scooter from grandpa Phil. So, I think we are covered when it comes to wheeled devices for the summer!

Watching Chuck E dance with daddy

Cole and grandma

Sneaking frosting
Caught in the act

Getting a little tired
Chuck E Cheese arrives and Cade has to touch his "buck teeth"
I love Chuck E Cheese!
Partying on the dance floor
Cade blew out his candles so fast none of us got a picture
Ticketblaster! See the smile?
Waiting for the dancing ChuckE again

Happy Birthday

2011-04-18T21:33:00.002-05:00

Cade turned 3 today and had a huge celebration at Chuck E Cheese yesterday. I will post more about it later with pictures. We love you Cade! Happy Birthday!

Cade's Adventure

2011-04-15T22:15:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, Cade had his yearly NICU follow-up clinic. Instead of telling him that we were going to the doctor, I told him that we were going on an adventure. The last time we had to go to the doctor he got really worried so I thought I would spare him the worry before we got there. It turned out that he mostly got a chance to play with the nurse, Lois. He was being tested of course but didn't know it. They checked his verbal, cognitive, fine motor and large motor skills. It was fun for me to see how his brain works without being the one asking him questions. If I had been the one testing him, I would have gotten alot of no's and I don't know's just because that's the way he is with me. But, he was very cooperative with Lois. So cooperative in fact that Lois told us that he was the best kid that she had that day. At one point, I think Cade may have lifted his shirt and she saw his scar, she said to me, "Oh wait. That's right. He had a grade 3 brain bleed and has a shunt. He shouldn't be doing this well." It was great to know that his brain damage doesn't seem to be affecting him. I pretty much knew this but it was nice to have it confirmed once again by someone who sees preemies everyday. At the end of the testing, we learned that Cade maxed out the verbal section. This means that his verbal skills are beyond what is expected for a 45 month old. His cognitive skills were at 36 months but there were quite a few answers that he couldn't get scored on because he would answer 2 out of 3 things right. To get scored, he had to answer 3 out of 3. His fine motor skills were at 37 months and his large motor skills were at 35 months. So, he is right on track. At the end of the evaluation, he met with Dr. Hoekstra who was one of his NICU doctors. We hadn't seen him since the NICU. If you've ever seen the Childen's commercials about the preemies, he's the doc in the commercial. He did the physical check on Cade and everything was OK. His exact words were, "He's miraculous." Pretty great coming from the guy that sees preemies all day long. We are so proud of our big boy.

Brothers

2011-04-15T20:33:00.009-05:00

Here are a few pictures that I've taken over the last few weeks of the boys together.

Cole's first walk outside

I love this fake smile of Cade's. It reminds me of pictures of me at 3.

Sleepy boys
Getting ready for a nap

20 weeks

2011-04-15T19:57:00.007-05:00

As I typed the title to this it reminded me of the standard 20 week ultrasound and how most parents "meet" their baby for the first time during that ultrasound. As you know, we met Cole long before then and got a chance to see him every 2 weeks for quite awhile. And now, we have really known him for 20 weeks. He continues to be the sweetest little baby I know. He is loved deeply by his mommy, daddy and big brother. He is very much a mama's boy. Last night, I handed him to Sean and walked out of the room. Within 3 minutes, he was screaming so hard that his face was bright red. I thought something was majorly wrong but I picked him up and within 30 seconds he had calmed down. While it is very sweet that he loves his mommy, I also need a break sometimes and Sean is great with him. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts. I'm guessing he will follow in Cade's footsteps and soon only want daddy.

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks (the pants that he's wearing are the ones Cade wore for his 1st birthday party)

4 month stats

2011-03-31T20:44:00.006-05:00

Cole had his 4 month appt today. It was kind of a traumatic experience with the shots. The poor baby turned bright red because he was crying so hard. Luckily, he's such a happy baby that by this evening he was back to himself. Right now, he's relaxing and watching Grey's Anatomy with me. He also tried his first oatmeal cereal tonight. He didn't love it but he didn't do to bad either.

Here's the stats:Weight: 15 lbs 2 oz - 53rd percentile
Length: 24 3/4" - 43rd percentile
Head circumference: 16 3/4" - 60th percentile

I Must Be Doing Alright

2011-03-26T21:50:00.006-05:00

I feel like I haven't blogged specifically about Cade in a long time. It's hard to believe that he's going to be 3 in a few weeks. He continues to do amazingly well despite his rough start. A few things that I have been impressed with lately:
1. After breakfast, he puts his bowl and spoon in the dishwasher or sink without being asked.
2. When he comes upstairs, he almost always makes sure that the lights and TV are off. I even asked him yesterday if he could make sure he turned off the lights. His reply, "Cade already did."
3. While I was busy with Cole, he put a dirty empty bottle in the sink for me without being asked.
4. He knows how to use words like "probably" and "actually" correctly in sentences.
5. He started to learn to rhyme with grandma and now does it all by himself. I think it started with "Elmo, Melmo" and now he just makes up words to rhyme with whatever he's talking about.
6. He continues to want to take care of his baby brother and hold him. Alot of times he wants Cole to stay in his room for nap.
7. He knows how to vacuum with the real vacuum. When I told him that we needed to check to make sure that the bag wasn't full, he pushed the vacuum over and opened the door to check.
8. He decided one day during nap that he was going to take care of his own poopy diaper. By the time he was screaming for me, he had taken his pants off, his diaper off, put it in the garbage can and was sitting on his futon. He had poop all over his hands and a poopy kleenex next to him. I couldn't even be angry since he was trying to be so independent. It was a pretty nasty clean-up job though.

Dr. Cade fixing piggy

4 months

2011-03-26T20:57:00.009-05:00

Cole turned 4 months today. He rolled over for the first time on Thursday from tummy to back. He surprised himself and Cade and I. He has even been able to repeat the feat a few times on Thursday and a few times since then. He continues to be a very happy baby that likes to talk and smile. Right now, he's watching TV with us. He's already hooked.

Catching up in pictures

2011-03-18T21:50:00.031-05:00

12 weeks

13 weeks - 3 months

Brotherly love

My favorite picture so far

Cade in a pair of 3-6 month pants! He put them on himself.

Happy boys

Grandma and Cade

Trying to get a picture with Grandma and Grandpa

OK, let's try with just Cole

14 weeks

Cade and Evan riding Thomas

Friends

15 weeks

Happy St Patrick's Day

16 weeks

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T09:59:00.007-06:00

11 weeks

2011-02-13T21:14:00.019-06:00

Cole continues to become more and more social. He now likes to flirt with his mommy, smile at his daddy and brother and talk to all of us. He also loves his mobile. When he starts to get fussy and we have tried comforting him with no results, we lay him down in his crib and turn on his mobile. He almost immediately starts talking to it. I have even caught him looking over at it from his changing table and smiling.

Reading books

Flirting with Mommy (check out that dimple)
The mobile!
Cole checking himself out in his swing
The cutie pie

10 weeks - Hands and Smiles

2011-02-04T21:40:00.023-06:00

This week Cole has found his hands and loves to lick his fingers while trying to get his whole fist or thumb into his mouth. He has also really started to smile alot. Most mornings I'm greeted with a happy little boy that is more than willing to give me a few smiles. He likes to smile at his toys that hang from his bouncer, his wall decals of horses and his crib bumper that has a puppy on a tractor. Sean said that he got a mischievous smile the other night and Cade gets some smiles too. Cole likes to follow his big brother with his eyes. Cade continues to be a good big brother and a jealous big brother. He alternates alot during the day going from hitting Cole to kissing him. It gets really frustrating for me when he wants to be violent. Most times it comes out of the blue. I'm guessing it's when Cade has decided that Cole has had enough of mom's attention. At least, it was better today.

Cole in one of Cade's outfits

Hands!

Smile!

Tummy time - Cole is strong

I tried to get pictures of the boys together in their matching sweaters but it just didn't work today. Cole was very sleepy. Maybe I'll try again next week because they both look very handsome

2 months

2011-01-26T21:22:00.012-06:00

Cole is already 2 months old! He had his doctor appointment this evening and here are the stats:
Weight: 11 lbs 14 oz; 55th percentile and almost double his birth weight!
Length: 22 in; 17th percentile
Head circumference: 15.6 in; 41st percentile

Here's some pics of him talking to me today. Check out what looks to be a cleft chin! Maybe he's got a little of his great grandma in him.

8 weeks

2011-01-22T21:26:00.001-06:00

Well, this week went from good to bad very quickly. Sean was off on Monday so he got a chance to take Cade sledding and he loved it. Then, Tuesday we made it to class and had a good time as always. Wednesday was crazy because Cole didn't sleep all morning and wasn't very happy. Thursday morning wasn't much better but Cole finally passed out and Cade only took a short nap (even though he was exhausted) so we headed to Target. Cade was very out of sorts by the time we got home but I didn't know what was wrong. Then, I figured it out rather quickly. He puked all over the kitchen floor. He's been running a temp ever since. No puke on Friday but he puked twice today. Poor baby is just worn out. He was asleep before 7:30 which if you know Cade at all you know that's highly unusual. I'm really hoping that his fever breaks tonight and he can enjoy some of the weekend. One great thing did happen this week though. Yesterday, when I was at my crabbiest and most exhausted, Cole smiled right at me for the very first time! That definitely made up for the crappy week. The week before was so much better. The boys and I got out of the house 3 days in a row. We went to class, then to Cara and Eli's on Wednesday and met up with Amy and Evan at the mall on Thursday. While at the mall, I made my decision that we did need a double stroller of some sort. Cade just isn't ready to walk all the time. So, I ordered a sit and stand where Cade has the option to stand which I think he will love. It came in the mail today and so far Cade does love it. He pushed it all around the house! Last Saturday, we got a chance to see Kristie, Tom and the girls. Cade was very excited that Brooke and Ashley were going to come over "to play cars." Plus, they brought him one of the best gifts ever, his very own shaving kit!

7 weeks (disregard the spit up)

The great shaving kit

Cade took this picture of Cole (I found it as I was deleting the other 100 pics that he had taken)

Cade, all ready to go sliding with Daddy

Spit up again

Love this pic

My sweet little monster

8 weeks

Mr. Blue Eyes

Wow, that window is so nice

6 weeks

2011-01-08T11:42:00.011-06:00

Cole turned 6 weeks yesterday and I had my 6 week post partum check. Dr. Angelats said that I was 75% healed and cleared of all of my restrictions. It's nice that I can pick up Cade again. He's been missing it and so have I. Cole continues to grow like a weed. He's growing out of his newborn clothes. His belly keeps getting rounder and his cheeks keep growing. We bought a new swing for him that is like a cradle so he sleeps in that alot at night. I'm not sure if it's the swing, the "miracle" swaddling blanket that Sean bought or just the fact that he's getting a little older but he's now going 3 hours or a little more between feedings! He continues to spit up alot and have issues with gas. I hate to see him uncomfortable and at times he cries before he can pass gas. I wish we could help somehow but I'm not sure what else to do.
Cade says, "The marker smells like chocolate!" I guess you don't buy a 2 year old scented markers.

Back to work

2011-01-05T19:10:00.007-06:00

Well, after 5 weeks of having constant help, I am on my own with the boys. I loved having my parents here for 2 weeks. Actually, I think it's safe to say we all loved having them here. Cade misses them now and talks about them coming here or us going to Proctor. He "reads" the Hallmark recordable books that he got for Christmas from them every nap time and bedtime. They are "grandpa's book" and "grandma's book". Sean was here for the first 2 weeks Cole and I were home and then for the week between Christmas and New Years. We all loved having him home too. Cade especially is having a hard time adjusting to daddy going to work. Yesterday, we all made it out the door by 9:15 to go to our ECFE class. Cade was really excited to go back to class and so was I. Six weeks of no class was way too long.

Cole liked Cade's Sing-a-ma-jig

Baby boy hanging out with us downstairs
Cade and I attempting to get a good picture. Gotta love that smile.

Happy New Year (5 weeks)

2011-01-04T21:20:00.000-06:00

As you can see, Cole's cheeks keep increasing in size! His only issue so far has been the fact that he only goes poop every other day and becomes very crabby and needy on the day that he's scheduled to poop. Apparently, our babies just don't have very quick digestive systems. It gets frustrating because Cole just wants to be held most of the time which I don't mind at all except it makes it very difficult to take care of Cade. I have a sling carrier on order which should give me back the use of my hands and still keep Cole happy and comfortable. Juggling 2 is definitely more than twice the work.

Christmas (4 weeks)

2010-12-31T17:20:00.025-06:00

My 2 handsome boys on Christmas Eve

Eating minty chocolate bars in front of the tree

Cole slept through the entire church service

Santa came and he brought a drill!!!!

Goofy action shot with his safety goggles on
Staring at all of his loot and the Christmas tree
Even Cole was wide awake on Christmas morning
Big brother kiss

3 weeks

2010-12-18T21:28:00.007-06:00

Cole is still growing like crazy. We have really noticed his cheeks getting chubbier and he's now got a little belly. He's now eating every 2.5-3 hours and the majority of his awake time is during the day and evening. We just switched his formula to see if we can help him out with his spit ups and huge amount of gas. This little boy can fart as loud as his dad! My parents have been here all week and will be here through next week. They have both been a huge help and have given me a chance to get a little more sleep and continue recovering. I'm actually feeling pretty well even though I've been sleeping in the recliner most nights. I started driving again this week so Cade and I and either grandpa or grandma have been running errands in the afternoons. It's nice to at least get out of the house.

2 weeks

2010-12-10T21:20:00.008-06:00

Cole is now 2 weeks old and is growing like crazy. We had him into the doctor today for his 2 week check and he gained 12 oz in a week! He's up to 6 lbs 12 oz now. I guess those feedings every 2 hours are paying off. He continues to have his awake times and sleepy times a little messed up. He likes to be up from 10pm-2am but I think we are slowly changing that. He and I slept in the recliner most of last night. Then he was up from 6:30 - 8 and was up a few other times today but seems sleepy now. I have my fingers crossed that he will sleep better tonight. After Cole's appt, we went out to dinner and to Southdale for a little while. It was good for Cade to get out and also good for me. Sean and Cade have made a few trips to Target this week but I haven't gone anywhere since last Friday. It's been another rough week of recovery with cramping in my stomach and for some odd reason my left shoulder has been cramping up too. It seems to be better finally today. Sean has really been doing alot to help me get some extra sleep and keep both boys fed and happy. I'll be a little sad when he goes back to work on Monday but luckily my parents are coming on Monday afternoon to help out through Christmas. Then, Sean will be home again the week between Christmas and New Year's. I'm going to have 5 weeks of help and am thankful beyond words.

Sean and Cade on the train at Southdale

Cole waiting for his big brother and daddy

One week

2010-12-03T15:43:00.014-06:00

It's hard to believe that Cole is one week old already. We took him to the doctor today for a quick weight check and bilirubin check. He was up to 6 lbs from 5lbs 11oz at discharge and only an ounce away from his birth weight. No jaundice to worry about either. He has another appt in a week for the standard 2 week check. When we were making the appt, Dr Stealey happened to be in the office and was nice enough to schedule something with us during his non-office time. Since he's Cade's primary doctor and a really great guy, we want him to be Cole's primary as well. I love the fact that we go to such a wonderful pediatrician's office. After our doctor's appt, we went to our first lunch out as a family of four. Luckily we went to a Baker's Square that was not busy and we were seated in the least busy portion of the restaurant. Cade decided to spend most of lunch running around and chatting with people. Good thing he's a big flirt and can get by with it. Cole got his first public restroom changing where we ran into a woman that insisted on touching him while I was trying to change him. I almost started screaming at her to stop touching my child. How can people be so rude? Why do they automatically think it's ok to touch babies? I wished I had our big red stop sign from Children's, that is hanging on our car seat, plastered to his forehead. I'm not sure if even that would have been a deterrent though. Of course, there were many nice people there too that commented on how cute he was and asked how old he was.

Things we know about Cole so far:1. He has a head full of blond hair. It's funny to see such a blondie in our otherwise dark family. But, both his aunt Marcy and his uncle Andy were blond as babies.
2. He is a ladies man like his big brother. The night nurses fell in love with him. He really was only in the nursery at night and I heard form our nurse and our nursing assistant that he was the favorite in the nursery. The assistant finally decided that she had to put him down because she didn't want to spoil him.
3. He can shoot poop with the best of them. While the night nurse was changing him, he shot poop all the way across his plastic bassinet. He also got daddy's hand full of poop yesterday.
4. He has pooped more in 4 days of being home than Cade did in his first month home.
5. He pees like a fountain over everything. Cade never really did.
6. He's a good eater. He takes 2 oz at every bottle and eats every 2-3 hours.
7. He can hold his head up and turn it and has been able to since the day after he was born.
8. He can focus his eyes on your face already.

Surprise!

2010-11-30T10:03:00.007-06:00

Baby Bober decided to come a little earlier than expected. On the night of Thanksgiving, I went to bed with a feeling that the baby was going to come even though I didn't have any signs of labor. By 12:15, I woke up with some bleeding and told Sean that we needed to call the doctor. I explained my situation to the on-call doctor and at first he said, "ok, I think you should call the office in the morning." I think he said that at first because the bleeding could be coming from my cerclage. But, I asked again and he said, "yep, head to the hospital and I'll tell them you are coming." So, we packed up Cade and headed to Abbott. Once we were there, I started to have contractions but they were not very consistent. By the time the doctor got there, I was contracting every 3 minutes even though I didn't know it. So, he said that since I was in labor, had bleeding and was at 36 weeks that he thought we should deliver the baby. He told us that at 36 weeks, we were likely to be able to take the baby home with us when I was discharged. But, they called the special care nursery and got them prepped for our pre-term baby. Sean quickly took Cade up to Andy and Jill's and was back in time to head to the OR with me. Then, by 5:45am Cole Andrew Bober was born. He came out screaming which was such a relief. He was 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 1/4" long. Even his Apgar scores were great at 8 and 9. He ended up with some bruising on his face so for awhile the doctors and nurses weren't sure if he was turning blue or if he was bruised. But, his O2 levels were high so they decided that he had bruising around his nose. He ended up in the regular nursery. I couldn't believe it. No NICU needed!

Still pregnant.......

2010-11-19T21:00:00.011-06:00

Well, I've made it to 35 weeks and things are still going extremely well. I can't believe that I'm 10 weeks past when Cade was born. This baby boy is probably already close to 3 times the birth weight of his big brother. At the last ultrasound, about 3 weeks ago, he was an estimated 4lbs 13 oz (54th percentile). With an average weight gain of a half pound a week, he's probably close to 6 lbs. The ultrasound tech kept telling me that this baby is going to seem huge! I guess now I can believe her. Of course, any newborn would seem huge compared to Cade.

Ultrasound from 9/24

I'm still feeling pretty good most days. My hips and lower back are sore alot but that's a small price to pay for a baby born healthy. We have a scheduled c-section on December 16th. Right now, there isn't a reason to think that we won't get there but only time will tell. My stitches are holding and my cervix was still at 4cm 3 weeks ago. There won't be any more ultrasounds since the cervical length naturally thins out. At the last appt, the doc said that we may keep the stitches in until the c-section as long as I'm not uncomfortable. Before, the plan was to take them out at 37 weeks (~Dec 2nd). I guess that I just need to wait and see how I tolerate the extra pressure of baby.

I think that Cade is really understanding that he is going to be a big brother. We have a book about being a big brother that he requests to read at least once a day. He talks about the baby, how he will hold him on his lap and how babies cry. Sean mentioned the other day that the baby will "pop" out of mommy. So, now he really wants to know when this baby is coming. He is also very interested in every baby that we see while we are out and about. He gets concerned when he hears one cry and always wants to go see the babies. I think it will ultimately be a tough transition for him but he will be an awesome big brother.

News about Cade this fall: In September, he "graduated" from having ECSE come to the house. Both the teacher and PT felt that he was doing so well that they couldn't really help him any more. I was happy but also a little sad because both Becca and Lynn were great resources and are great people. We started a year round ECFE class and luckily have some of the same friends from last year in our class. Cade and Eli continue to be good buds and Cara and I get along great. It's nice to have someone that lives so close to hang out with. We also have become good friends with Nichole and Sam. Nichole is also pregnant with a little boy and is due Dec 8th. Nichole and I can share pregnancy stories and Cade and Sam are becoming friends. Class is fun for Cade and for me. At first, he went through some rough separation anxiety but now he likes his teachers and his friends. And, he knows that "Mommy always comes back." That's our mantra around here. In October, Cade had a follow-up neuro appt to check his new shunt setting that we changed this summer. Sean took him to his appt since I can't go in the CT with him. Everything looked the same. I was concerned that Cade was toe-walking again so Sean asked about it. The NP said that it could be caused by the shunt change or the brain damage that he sustained when he was born and to keep an eye on it. He had been toe-walking during the summer but then it went away. Lynn (the PT) said that it's something alot of toddlers do. I think it's actually starting to go away again but I'm still watching for signs that I need to make an appt with his doctor. He can still squat with his heels on the floor so that's a good sign. He also has started jumping everywhere. Alot of times, instead of walking, he hops or dances. He continues to be a happy little boy. We've been lucky this fall to have grandma come and visit a couple of times while Grandpa Reg has been hunting. Cade loves to have grandma come and I know grandma loves to come and see Cade. Grandpa Phil was also able to come for the weekend before Sean's birthday. Cade loves his grandma and grandpas.

Our little dino before we went to the zoo for trick or treating

We went to the zoo on Halloween for a special members only event that was held after hours. It was nice to be able to trick-or-treat indoors and see all of the animals. Cade's favorite "treat" was a plastic flutophone that he called his whistle. He said he had a whistle like Grandpa Reg! (My dad often has a dog whistle with him that he lets Cade play with).

An early visit to see Santa (11/19)

We decided to visit Santa very early this year since baby could come any day. Amy, Ben and Evan were supposed to meet us there but they were sick and couldn't make it. We missed them but Sean was able to meet us there since we had an appt after work. Cade was not a huge fan of the big guy. But, eventually he warmed up a little bit and we did get a great photo.

Cade and his little brother

2010-08-31T21:03:00.006-05:00

Cade: "Baby in momma's belly"
Me: "Yep"
Cade: "Baby in mama's bra?"
Me: "Nope, the baby is lower in momma's belly."
Cade: "Baby in momma's undies?"
Me: "Well, the baby is underneath momma's undies"

Cade: "Baby in momma's belly"
Me: "Yep"
Cade: leans over and smells my belly and says "you sniff the baby" (you = me or I)
Cade: "Baby needs milk"
Me: "Well, not really"
Cade: "Baby needs milk"
Me: "OK", then Cade lifts my shirt and tries to pour milk on me. I then took the milk and pretended that the baby was drinking.
Cade: "More"
So, I had to repeat giving the baby milk until I said that the baby was full
Then, Cade leaned over and kissed the baby.

Cade: "Baby in momma's belly"
Me: "yep"
Cade: "Momma get scissors?"
Me: "Why?"
Cade: "Take the baby out"
Then he thought about it and said, "No, cut baby finger, owie"

Cade: "Baby in momma's belly"
Me: "yep"
Cade lifts up my shirt and says "take baby out" as he grabs at my belly and pulls his cupped hands away
Me: "Is the baby out?"
Cade: "uh-huh"
Cade: "Baby all gone"
Me: "where did the baby go?"
Cade shrugs his shoulders
Sean comes in the room and I told him that Cade took the baby out. Then, Cade says, "Baby in ear" and points at his ear.

Catching up

2010-07-29T20:40:00.015-05:00

I know that it's been way too long since my last post. There are exciting things happening in the Bober household. This most important one is that Cade is going to be a big brother before the end of the year. My official due date is Dec 24th but I doubt that we will get that far. I'm positive that this baby will not come as early as Cade but I also think there is a high likelihood that baby will come somewhat early. My doc says if I make it to 34 weeks we should all have a drink :) So far everything has been going great. Baby is healthy and my cervix is holding steady (maybe that's too much info but it's very important info). I had a cerclage placed at 14 weeks and am now at 19 weeks. I'm am having ultrasounds every 2 weeks to check on my cervix and baby so they should be able to catch if anything starts changing. The other big news about baby B is that it's a boy! Yes, I will be surrounded by males but I'm really excited that Cade will have a brother.

Cade has had his own exciting news too. Last week, we had a neuro appointment and the CT showed that his ventricles are still compressed (no change from last time). This is great news and means that his shunt setting was changed again up to 200 from 170. A setting of 200 means that the shunt is essentially shut off. His body is doing all of the draining of fluid from his brain that he needs. We will follow-up in 3 months to make sure everything still looks good. Then, we will wait a year and see if everything holds steady. If so, there is a chance that the shunt can be taken out. This news really surprised me because everything that we had been told previously was that the shunt would stay in no matter what. I guess when the time comes we will have to weight the risks of another surgery with the advantages of not having the shunt.

More news from Cade is that we have started potty training. It's been about 3 weeks now and I think he is starting to revolt a little. But, he can go pee pee on the potty and has even been successful at telling us he needs to go. I guess it's just a work in progress.

Cade is continuing to learn new words. Some of the ones that surprised me are helicopter and motorcycle since they each have 4 syllables. He is so into vehicles and often sees "auntie Marcy's car" or "grandpas truck" or "Daddy's car". He still loves when Sean gets home to see his daddy and to also go play in mommy or daddy's car. He often speaks in 5-6 word sentences. It's so fun to have him tell me the story of his day. It's interesting to hear what he finds important. He's started to really love jumping (on the bed, off of the bottom stair in the basement, in the pool). We did have a visit from ECSE this month and they said that Cade was going to put them out of business. He's doing so well. The next big step is for him to move to a "big boy bed" but I'm holding off a little because his bedtimes have not been going so well this summer. He's back to wanting us in the room with him until he falls asleep. Sometimes, that isn't until 10:00 which is starting to drive me a little nuts. We are hoping, as the sun starts to go down earlier, he will start going down earlier.

We are having a great summer so far. We had the chance to spend more time at the cabin with family over the 4th, actually made it up to Chisholm for Father's day and have been busy with our ECFE friends and Amy, Evan and Ben. We've been to the zoo, have hung out with Andy, Jill and Phillip and have hung out with Marcy and JR. Marcy and JR are getting married! So, I guess he's uncle JR now. We got a chance to see my mom to celebrate her birthday and are headed to the cabin again in August to celebrate with my dad. Last week, Fran and Kathy were down for the day and we had a great time. Cade woke up the next morning saying "Fran turn the car on?" "Kathy bye bye?" We were all sad to see them leave but hopefully we will see them (and Heather) again this summer.

Little undie butt

Filling the pool
Splash pad at the zoo
Watching the otters swim
Up close and personal with the bear

The start of summer

2010-06-04T18:31:00.018-05:00

I haven't been doing a very good job of posting lately. Things are busy as usual. All of the weekends in May were booked with fun family and friend time. Mother's day weekend my parents came down on Friday and stayed through Saturday afternoon. Then, on Sunday we took Cade to the zoo. The next weekend was opening fishing so Cade and I tagged along with Sean and he dropped us off at the cabin before he headed up to Lake Vermilion to have his annual guys weekend with a bunch of his Chisholm friends. Cade and I had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Marcy, JR, Great-aunt Susan and Great-uncle Jerry. Cade got to go in his pool for the first time of the year and got to have a boat ride. The next weekend, Grandpa Phil came into town on Friday so we got to have dinner and Cade spent some quality time with him on Saturday morning before he had to leave to babysit Phillip. Then in the afternoon, we got to meet Kristie, Tom and Brooke at the Como Zoo. We missed seeing Ashley because she was with her grandma but it was nice just to have the 2 year olds to watch. Kristie and I got a chance to catch up and have some family fun. The on Sunday afternoon, my parents were back in town for a grad party and we had dinner with them and Marcy and JR. Memorial day weekend we headed up to the cabin. Sean took Friday off so we could stop in Proctor and meet our newest little friend Hannah Grace who was born on May 2nd to Heather and Chris. Sean wasn't feeling well so he took a nap and Cade and I got to meet Hannah. She is a little sweetheart. She has red hair just like her momma but looks alot like her daddy. So cute :) Cade even had to give her a kiss and touch her hair. We were out at the cabin by dinner on Friday night. All of us (12 adults, 3 kids and 7 dogs) were there by Saturday at lunch time. So, it was a busy, crazy and fun weekend. The weekend project was painting the new bedrooms in the basement addition. It will be so great once everything is done. Four more bedrooms to fill up with all of us. Unfortunately, Sean was sick all weekend and ended up sleeping most of the time but by Monday afternoon he felt a little better and even got in some painting. Cade got alot of quality time with Grandma while I helped out with the painting and getting meals together for all of us.

Feeding the goats at the MN Zoo

"What's this big wheel for?"
Walking up the hill.
Luckily, he didn't mind his life jacket.
First pool time of 2010
Playing with his own minnows.
I gave him 2 in his own bucket so he wouldn't kill all of the rest.
Boat ride!
We took the fishing boat out for a spin and Cade wanted to sit on grandpa Reg's lap.
Notice he has pjs on :)

Sophie was enjoying the ride too.
Just a cute picture with "monk."

2 year stats....a little late

2010-05-26T20:14:00.002-05:00

Here's the stats from our visit to the NICU follow-up clinic on April 27.

Head circumference: 19 in
Length: 34 in (about 40th percentile)
Weight: 23 lb 2 oz (about 5th percentile)

This makes me wanna cry...

2010-05-10T12:29:00.000-05:00

Almost too many to count

2010-05-10T10:23:00.002-05:00

In no particular order, here are the words that Cade added to his vocabulary in the last month. I'm sure I'm missing a few. We have heard quite a few 3 word sentences and some 4 word sentences now.

119. Love
120. Laugh
121. Hug
122. Kiss
123. Fun
124. Sophie - "Soph"
125. Lucy - "Luce"
124. Eli - his friend form class that we hang out with quite a bit
125. Cara - Eli's Mom
126. Bunny
127. Horse
128. Gallop
129. Monkey - "Monk"
130. Book
131. Cookie
132. Monster
133. Froggie
134. Fix
135. Sam - he has a book with Sam
136. Puppy
137. Feed - "Feed the puppies"
138. Necklace - "Neck"
139. Marcy - "Marce or Marsha"
140. Auntie
141. Purse
142. Good
143. Night
144. Ernie
145. Art
146. Squirrel
147. Bird
148. Kira
149. Cereal
150. Fish
151. Flush
152. Beep
153. Honk
154. Railing
155. Step
156. Candle
157. Broke
158. Sniff
159. Lick
160. Shook
161. Sit
162. Stand
163. Lay
164. Banana
165. Cantaloupe
166. Plum
167. Smash
168. Smoosh
169. Come
170. Brynja - a little girl from class, I think he really likes saying her name or really likes her
171. Heather - Brynja's Mom
172. Van
173. Judy
174. Walk
175. Run
176. Elbow
177. Ear
178. Hair
180. Cup
181. Milk
182. Pop
183. Pen
184. Pig
185. Earring
186. Swing
187. Mouth
188. Lips
189. Tower
190. Blocks
192. Shake
193. Cracker
194. Toast
195. Coffee
196. Toothpaste
197. Lotion
198. Stuff
199. Lunch
200. Hand
201. Foot
202. Thumb
203. Nipple - "Nip"
204. Knuckle - "Knuck"
205. Broken - "Broke"
206. Bulb
210. Eyelash
211. Climb
212. Backpack
213. Lucky
214. Superman
215. Vacuum
216. Turn
217. Salt
218. Pepper
219. Red
220. Purple
221. Airplane
222. Fly

What a day..........

2010-05-06T21:30:00.003-05:00

While I was cooking dinner, Cade was standing on the stool playing in the kitchen sink. Then, I think he was trying to get down and slipped and hit his head on the floor. While I was trying to console him, he was crying so hard that he puked all over both of us. I got him calmed down and both of us cleaned up and resumed making dinner while he snacked on a banana. I finished dinner and sat down to eat and gave Cade some food. Well, he choked a little and then puked all over himself again. So, new clothes again and then Sean got home. When he came in the door, I said, slightly frustrated and slighty amused, "You picked one heck of a day to be late." Turns out he was cleaning the parts of my car that didn't get clean when he took it in to be professionally cleaned for Mother's Day. I love my husband! Sometimes you just have to laugh because on top of everything, Cade is refusing to go to bed. So, I was with him from 7 to almost 9 and then Sean took over. It's 9:30 and Sean is still up there. After puking twice in one day, we don't want to risk a 3rd time and Cade has been known to puke if he's too upset to go to bed. The joys of parenting.......

2nd Birthday

2010-04-20T14:51:00.018-05:00

The froggy cake

Birthday dinner

Phillip

Elli, Noah and Cade
Ice cream!
Froggy
Water table!!!

Cousins

2010-03-31T10:12:00.005-05:00

100 words and counting

2010-03-27T15:24:00.010-05:00

100. Comb - I have a comb in the shower that he likes to play with
101. Towel - He has a froggy towel and a monster towel
102. Lamp - we thought this would be his first word since he loves lamps so much
103. Cow - There's a cow in his "Snort" book
104. Light - Cade loves lights.
105. Color - He's decided coloring is ok but only for a couple minutes (or seconds).
106. Toot - I am trying to get away from using the word "fart"
107. Dirt - we were at the park and the playground base is sand
108. Rock - we picked up all the rocks in the yard and put them back into the landscaping around the house.
109. Stop - as in "Stop opening the dishwasher a thousand times while it's running."
110. Elmo - the child won't even watch TV but Elmo is on his diapers
111. Hurt - as in "You hurt mommy when you hit her."
112. Hood - "you need your hood on when it's cold out"
113. Fork - He's been using his fork quite a bit
114. Knife - sounds more like "nof" and it took me awhile to get what he was saying.
115. Diaper - He hates getting his diaper changed but he knows what it's called.
116. House - We were building a block house.
117. Bath - He took a bath this morning in "quack, quack" (his inflatable ducky tub).
118. Spoon - He eats his yogurt with a spoon and is quite good at it as long as you don't mind a little yogurt on the pjs.

While we were at the zoo on Saturday, Cade wasn't interested in the animals until we got to the snow monkeys. Then he pointed at the biggest one and said, "Lola." Apparently, monkeys and dogs look alot alike.

Spring

2010-03-23T20:36:00.013-05:00

Spring is finally here! Cade is loving the fact that he can play outside.

Happy St. Patrick's Day (Cade is 1/8 Irish)

Walking down the street

Loving his car
On the big slide

The look we got when we told him we were taking him to the park. He didn't want to get out of the car.
I guess the park isn't so bad
Singing the bubble song

The list of words seems to be growing by about one or 2 a day now.
71. Go - usually go, go, go
72. Kick - I was trying to teach him to kick a ball but he likes to kick me and the dogs. Not a good thing.
73. Swim - This is part of the bubble song
74. Belt
75. Snort - from "Are you my mother?"
76. Clip - He loves to work on clips (his high chair, car seat, Sophie's muzzle)
77. Ring - He always wants me to take my ring off. Grandma let him play with her rings once and now he's hooked.
78. Ball
79. Bowl
80. Sock
81. Shirt
82. Shoe - He even tries to put on the shoes in his book (lifts his foot up to the page, "shoe on")
83. Mole - He points out the moles on my face
84. Dip - Loves dip for veggies but just uses the carrots for a spoon
85. Chip
86. Bra - He's very interested in whether I have my bra on or not. He even pulled my shirt down in our class and said, "bra on." Luckily, no one was paying attention to us. He has also pointed out a woman in Target that had her bra straps showing, "bra on."
87. Snack - he actually makes the "sn" sound very well
88. Dust - I pulled out the Pledge the other day to dust and he just said dust. Sometimes it sounds like shust.
89. Gum - Sean had some gum in his mouth and told Cade what it was. Now, anytime I'm chewing on something he asks if it's gum.
90. Bad - He likes to tell the dogs that they are bad when they are not. Anytime they nibble on his fingers when he's giving them food, they are bad. I think he picked this up when Lucy nipped him a couple of weeks ago.
91. Collar - He knows the dogs and even dogs in books have collars on.
92. Car - He loves his cozy coupe.
93. Soap - Loves to eat it.
94. Eat - sounds more like "et"
95. Fall - He fell off our bed this week while he was playing. Today I warned him not to fall. Now he says, "no, no fall."
96. Home - "Dadda home"
97. Cereal - He loves his Cheerios
98. Lola - My sister's dog was over this weekend and her name is Lola. Now, both Kira and Lola are Lola.
99. Donut - We had donuts today.

March of Dimes Walk

2010-03-23T13:26:00.004-05:00

As part of the NICU reunion this year, Children's-MSP is sponsoring a team in the March of Dimes Walk on April 25th. Sean, Cade and I will be walking and attending the reunion. If you would like to sponsor us, there is a link on the sidebar of the blog.

Talking, talking

2010-03-10T13:32:00.017-06:00

It's been about 3 weeks since my last post and Cade's vocabulary keeps growing. Lately, it seems like there's a new word every day. Here's the growing list:
59. Fart - I can thank Sean for this one. I didn't really want our not-even-2 year old to say fart but he picked it up and now if you let one anywhere near him, he lets you know he heard it.
60. All gone - He is working on the difference between all done and all gone.
61. Eye - This is usually said while touching his eyeball or someone elses. We're still working on not touching eyes.
62. Dinner - He usually makes it almost into 2 words din - ner
63. Pop - This comes from a song from ECFE that we sing multiple times a day.
64. Fan - This popped out of his mouth while we were at Subway looking at the ceiling fans. He has always loved fans so I'm actually a little surprised that it took this long to say the word.
65. Phone (phono) - Sean got a new phone and I think Cade is in love. Well, they both are I think. There's no doubt that Cade is Sean's son. They are both techno geeks :). The other day he was holding the cordless phone and saying "dada". I asked him if he was talking to dada and he gave me a big nod and a "uh-huh".
66. Boom - Uncle Andy taught him this one during a pillow fight. However, when Cade "boomed" Phillip he was not impressed.
67. More - He usually says "more, more, more" and also signs in case I didn't get it.
68. Help - He uses our made up sign for help and then says help. He was whiny yesterday because he wanted me to do something for him. So, I told him to say "Help, mama." He did and he also said "Help, mama" to Sean :)
69. Poop - Cade and I were having a conversation on Sunday. He said, "Dada, boot on." I said, "Yep, Dada's boots are on because he's picking up trash in the backyard." Cade gave me his "ish" sound for trash. Then, I said, "Well, actually, dada is picking up poop from the dogs." Cade said, "poop." It's fun when we have a semi-conversation.
70. Burp - I guess he's truly a boy when burp and fart make the list of the first words.

Here's what we've been up to for the last 3 weeks. Cade and I went to pick up Belle from the vet after she had been gone for 10 days. There were 4 cats getting "discharged" that day and Cade wanted to look in all the empty kennels to find the cats. After our instructions from the vet, we finally got Belle. Cade and I were very happy and excited to see her. She has been back for almost 3 weeks and is doing really well and looks so much healthier.
Phil came down that same weekend and we went to brunch with him on Sunday and then to MOA. Cade was happy to spend some time with Grandpa Phil. Andy, Jill and Phillip met us at the mall too and we went to Underwater World. Cade likes the fish and especially likes getting to walk/run around by himself and splash in the water at the "petting zoo" part of the aquarium. I've taken Cade there a few times since we have a pass.

Look at that smile

Happy Belle is home

Then, 2 weeks ago, we took care of Phillip on Saturday while Jill worked and Andy was on his way home from a business trip. It's fun to have the boys together. Phillip is busy learning how to talk too. He's got quite a few words already.

Last Thursday, my parents came down just because they missed Cade. Cade was excited to have bama and papa Reg here. He asked to be picked up by them quite a few times. In fact, my mom thought she was going to hurt her arm in Sam's club because Cade wanted to be carried everywhere. "Upadae bama." She was loving it, of course. Both grandma and grandpa had a good time playing with Cade. On Friday night, auntie Marcy and JR came over for dinner and some time with Cade. When Marcy told JR that my parents were coming because they missed Cade, he said he missed Cade too. :) I think Marcy has a good guy. My parents went home on Saturday and we headed up to the salon to get our hair cut. After Sean and Cade got their hair cut, they went to play with Phillip and Andy while I got my hair cut and colored. It works out really well that the girls get a chance to talk and the boys get a chance to play. We stayed for dinner and Andy cooked a wonderful Thai dish. Getting my hair done and having someone else make dinner is a great day for me.

Taking a walk with Mom

Climbing

How I found him one day after running upstairs for a minute

Neuro news

2010-02-16T20:28:00.008-06:00

Today, Cade and I went to Children's to get a CT and and then to the neuro office to find out if his shunt pressure setting could be changed. When we were in about 6 1/2 months ago, the CT showed that he was "over shunted" which meant that there was not as much fluid in his brain as they would like. So, they changed the pressure setting from 130 to 150. The CT that was done today showed no change in the amount of fluid. So, we decided to increase the setting to 170. The max setting is 200 and at that setting the shunt is basically shut off and the brain drains at it's normal rate. It's unbelievable that Cade may not even need the shunt. We saw a new guy at the neuro office and he was amazed at how well Cade was doing based on his rough beginning. It was great for me to hear that from a medical professional that hasn't known Cade from the beginning.

In other news, his vocabulary continues to grow. He's also really working on putting 2 words together.
44. Uh oh - when he drops things and when he throws things
45. Out
46. Sit - he uses this on the dogs
47. Ow
48. Sock
49. Soft
50. Boot
51. Shut
52. Door
53. Shower - he took a shower with Sean this weekend and loved it, he stayed in there until Sean was done with his shower and had to have the water shut off before he would get out
54. Shh - this is part of his "Pajama Time" book
55. La la la - this is part of a book too and he surprised me one day by saying it on the right page
56. Bump - maybe he bumps his head too much but this one came out of his mouth today after hitting his head. He also found the permanent bump on his head and kept pointing it out. I told him that we like that bump.
57. Snow
58. Roar

The 2 word sentences are: hot cocoa, shut door, sharp ow, nice dada, bye bye Santa, sit down

Here's some pictures too.

Kira (my parents dog) begging from Cade

Happy Valentine's Day

P.S. I think I fixed the cocoa video that is in the post below this one

Cocoa!

2010-02-07T15:41:00.007-06:00

Cade and I went outside for awhile when Sean was clearing the snow from the driveway. He actually did alot better than last time outside. At first he fell down after every couple of steps but eventually he got used to walking in his new boots and the snow. We went up and down the driveway a few times in sled and sat in the backyard. Then, it was time to go in and warm up. I think the total time outside was less than the time it took me to get Cade ready in all of his snow gear. Well, I figured after playing outside Cade deserved some hot cocoa. So, I made him a little and made sure it was lukewarm and handed him the big mug. He loved it.

Is Spring Here Yet?

2010-01-27T13:57:00.012-06:00

I'm ready for spring and I'm guessing Cade is too. He has another cold and didn't sleep well last night so Mommy and Daddy are both a little tired today. I hope he gets alot of rest tonight and gets over this cold quickly. Last weekend, we all got our hair cut and had dinner with Andy, Jill and Phillip. Phillip is growing like a weed and now is taller than Cade. They both spent the afternoon and evening running around and opening and closing doors. Who needs toys when you have doors? The other news around here is that we finally figured out what is going on with Belle. I have wondered for awhile because it seemed like she kept getting skinnier. At first, I just thought that she was getting alot more exercise at the house versus the townhouse. But, lately, she's become really skinny. It turns out that she has a hyperactive thyroid. Both Sean and I were happy with the diagnosis because it's treatable and she is very healthy otherwise. One way to treat it is with a radioactive iodine injection that kills the tumor that is producing too much thyroid hormone. I guess it works really well and the vet recommended it over treating her with pills. So, now we need to get an appointment set up and find out the final cost. Hopefully, Belle will be on the mend soon.

Cade continues to work on developing his vocabulary. Here's a list of his new words:
31. All done
32. Brr
33. Thigh (ty) - Sean taught him this one and he says it instead of leg
34. Belle (baa-ow)
35. Foot (fo)
36. Rub - Sean taught him that you rub your hands when you have lotion on them - rub, rub
37. Water (wa wa)
38. Shop - maybe we do too much shopping? but, when we went to the mall yesterday I told Cade we were going shopping and he said "shop"
39. Down (dow)
40. Baa -as in the sheep says baa.
41. Hop Hop - as in the bunny in his book goes hop, hop. He said this one on his own one day when I turned the page to the bunny. Surprised the heck out of me. He also said "lana" yesterday when we were talking about a picture of a banana. But, he hasn't repeated it so it's not officially part of the list.
42. Toothbrush (boomba) - for awhile, he has done a gesture for brushing his teeth but now he asks for his toothbrush.
43. Sean (sha!) - he yells this when he wants to get our attention and we are pretty sure he's copying me yelling for Sean. This morning we were talking about daddy and he yelled "Sa!" so I think we're right.

He is also working on putting 2 words together. His favorite 2 word sentence is, "Santa off." He knows that Santa has to be turned off before we go upstairs. Santa is still out at our house because Cade asks for him when he gets up and talks about him all day. Even when he's going to bed, he keeps saying, "Santa off." Santa gets carried all over the basement and even rocks in Cade's rocking chair with him. Cade put him in the chair all by himself and then climbed up himself.

21 months

2010-01-19T20:50:00.009-06:00

Cade turned 21 months yesterday. He is so quickly approaching 2 that it's hard for me to believe. On Sunday, we watched the Vikings game and went to Noah's birthday party. I thought it would be a good idea to put Cade in something football related and had a tough time finding something in his closet with a football on it since I am biased towards the soccer gear. But, I did find one sweatshirt that fit the bill. Here's some pictures of him cheering on the Vikings to their win. Well, to be honest, I had to work hard to get these pictures since Cade doesn't really watch the game with me. But, it does look like he's cheering.Yesterday, since Sean had the day off, we went to Edinborough Park. They have a 40 foot tall kids play park that has climbing and slides. They also have a toddler area that I figured Cade would play in but he didn't want to have anything to do with it. He wanted to play with the big kids. So, with our help, he climbed up about halfway and went down a bunch of different slides. He loved the slides but was always on one of our laps. He surprised me by climbing through a tunnel that had criss-crossed straps for a portion of the tube. The tunnel was probably 20 feet off the floor but he just crawled right through. In fact, he was leading the way without any problems with the holes.Today, I attempted to take a picture of him with the same preemie outfit that I used last year for a comparison. Well, he didn't want to hold the sleeper in front of him so I pinned it on his shirt. I think that if the shoulders of the sleeper were actually at his shoulders, it would only go to about his waist. It's so tiny that it almost brought tears to my eyes just looking at it. If you want to see the pic that I took last year to compare, click here.

Breakfast with Cade

2010-01-17T20:57:00.004-06:00

Can you guess what Cade's favorite way to eat his yogurt is? Yes, that's right, he likes to drink it and with every slurp, he cracks himself up. He does actually know how to use a spoon but has decided that it's too slow or just not quite as fun. I also love the bed-head that he had that morning :)

Who does Cade look like?

2010-01-14T20:24:00.005-06:00

I've been meaning to do this post for along time. Here's a picture of Sean at 18 months and I think I'm about 18 months as well. So, this is a good time to compare Cade to us as toddlers. I've had many people tell me that Cade looks like me and many who say that he looks like Sean. Most who think he looks like me, knew me as a child and most who think he looks like Sean, knew him as a child. I'm just curious what people think once they see what each of us looked like. There is a poll set up on the right hand side of the blog. Please vote to satisfy my curiosity.

(Sean's Input)
Personally, I think Jill's baby pic looks like Andy in a dress (Bro, I am not trying to rip on you here I just see your face when I see Jill's baby picture). So, I guess what I am trying to say is that if Jill thinks that Cade looks like her, I think that she looks like Andy. So, Cade=Andy=Jill at a young age.

PS. Son, if you are reading this umteen years down the line, I think that your mom is a good looking lady and your uncle is a handsome man. So, don't think that what I am writing here is that you look like a girl or something of that nature. It is no secret that I think that you are one of the cutest (Sorry, at this age you are very "cute".) little guys to ever grace the planet (I am a bit biased too.). Nevertheless, you are cute, smart, and funny all wrapped into one.

Bubba-dae,

Dad

Jill's extra input:

First, I need to say that all of the Bober boys/men are handsome. So, Cade comes by his good looks from both sides :) But, he does not look like Andy. At least, not more than he looks like Sean or I. Sean says it's just this particular baby picture of me that reminds him of Andy. I went through the album that I have of the Bober boys and found a pic of Andy at around the same age. So, you can be the judge. However, I can't update the poll since there is already a vote. Also, sorry Andy but the only pic I had of you alone was the one in your diaper (still a very cute pic).

The Reason for the Horse

2010-01-14T20:10:00.005-06:00

I was going through some old pictures and came across this one. This is the reason Cade got a horse for Christmas. Although, the one I had looks alot smaller than his!

Santa!

2010-01-09T21:42:00.000-06:00

Now that Christmas is over and the decorations are put away, Cade keeps asking for Santa. We have a dancing Santa that he loves and I think he's missing it. Of course, he never uttered the word Santa during the holiday season. But, now I hear it about 50 times a day. I got sick (again) on Thursday and ended up taking out Santa just to try to entertain Cade while I sat on the couch. He was very excited when he saw the box and wanted me to turn Santa on and off multiple times. The only problem now is I'm not sure when I will be able to put Santa away again. At least, he's not asking for the tree!

Before Christmas, mesmerized by Santa.

Cade's vocabulary continues to expand. His new words are:
19. Sharp (shawpa) - used when referring to teeth, forks and knives mostly
20. On (onna) - please turn this on, also used for I want that
21. Off - this one scared Sean because he started with just the f sound
22. Arm (arma)
23. Uh huh - means yes with a little head bob (I think this is probably the cutest word he says)
24. No (na) - usually accompanied by pushing away whatever you were going to give him
Generally, when he tells you no or yes, he means it and doesn't confuse the two. However, there are a few times when no means yes and yes means no.
25. Rock (rock, rock) - used while he is in his rocking chair or someone else is in a rocking chair and he is rocking them. He likes to rock his big stuffed bear.
26. Papa - means Grandpa
27. Bama - means Grandma
On Wed morning, he woke up and kept saying, "papa, bama, bye bye". It took me a minute to get what he was saying but he must have been missing my mom and dad since he spent alot of time with them over the holidays.
28. Snap (sna) - He picked up on this while we were talking about his snap on his pants. All of a sudden, he said "sna" in a very nasally voice. I tried to get him to say it and record it but it didn't work.
29. Cocoa (caco) - I was drinking cocoa while I was sick on Thursday. Since he always wants whatever we are having, I was explaining that it was mama's cocoa. Then, he just said cocoa. When Sean was putting him to bed, he kept asking for cocoa so I had to make him some of his own and he had a couple little tastes before bed.
30. Santa

Another thing that we have been working on is learning body parts. Cade knows the following:
1. Head
2. Hair
3. Eyes
4. Ears
5. Nose
6. Mouth
7. Teeth
8. Tongue
9. Foot
10. Toes
11. Arm
12. Tummy
13. Belly button

Playing with Belle

Riding his horse

When ECSE was here this week, the PT recommended that we could try walking upstairs holding Cade's hands. He started walking up like a big boy right away. I expected that he would put 2 feet on each stair and then step up but he walks up like we do, one foot in front of the other.

Bober Christmas

2010-01-06T13:04:00.000-06:00

Here's the pics that Jill took with her new camera. I nabbed them off facebook so I could post them here.

Cade and Grandpa Phil

All dressed up with mommy

Classic family pic in front of the Christmas tree
Cade actually was interested in a present
Matching PJs

Christmas in Pictures (mostly)

2010-01-04T22:17:00.000-06:00

Here's the updates from the last month since I have been busy living life and not blogging about it.

Cade went to see Santa this year. We skipped last year since taking the risk of getting sick was too high for me. Cade was his usual social self. He warmed up to Santa quite quickly and even gave the big man a kiss! I didn't take any pics with my camera because I was just enjoying the moment so I purchased a couple of my favorites. As you can see, in the second one, they are both laughing. It's really fun and easy for me since Cade is so easy going and truly loves people.

Our Christmas plans got slightly modified due to the storm. We did make it to Andy and Jill's on Christmas Eve and Phil brought grandma down the day before to miss the storm. The evening was a little chaotic with 2 toddlers but it was alot of fun. Both Cade and Phillip were running around and playing. They aren't quite old enough to play together but they were busy. Cade wasn't into opening presents. He was helping Andy and Jill clean their house with the swiffer. Jill took a bunch of pictures with her new camera so maybe once I get them there will be another post. The boys even had matching pjs but I didn't get pics.

Handsome boy in front of our tree

Hard at work cleaning

Phillip is helping

We made it home that night but weren't able to drive up north on Christmas day. Travel between Hinckley and Duluth was not recommended. So, we got a chance to have our little family Christmas. We missed all of my extended family on my dad's side but decided that it was best to not travel. Santa visited our house and brought a horse that was much bigger than Cade. At first he was scared of it but now he asks to get up and actually rides his horse. He can reach the handles but he has to wrap his feet around the horse's belly to stay on. He got a tent an tunnel from us and found those to be much more fun. Actually, Belle loved the tunnel even more than Cade. She became a kitten again, flying through the tunnel at top speed. In the afternoon, my aunt and uncle stopped by to wish us a Merry Christmas so we quickly changed from our pjs to some clothes. We were being really lazy and it felt so good. I was nice to see Susan and Jerry though. After they left, we all went outside to play. I pulled Cade around in his sled. He wasn't totally sure that he was having a good time. So then I threw him into the snow bank and that was fun until he realized that he was laying in the snow. Once the weather gets warmer, we will have to try outside play again.

This horse is huge and a little scary

The tunnel is fun

Hey dad, I'm in the tent with mom.

Belle says, "This is the best Christmas ever."
I look so cute in my winter gear but I'm not having fun

On Saturday, we drove up to Proctor but the roads were so icy I think that Friday would have been a better day to drive. We did make it in about 4 hours with a stop for lunch and my mom, dad, sister and her boyfriend were happy to see us. They postponed Christmas until we arrived. So, we opened gifts after settling in. Cade still wasn't into opening gifts so I opened them for him. He did love his new rocking chair though. Grandma and Grandpa made a great purchase. We stayed until Monday and the whole visit was very low key. We were going to take Cade to Bentleyville to see all the lights but he had some issues with sleeping so he was napping when we wanted to go. Oh well, hopefully it will work out next year. Sean and I got out of the house for a couple of hours after Cade went to sleep and met up with Kathy and Eric. It was so nice to have a solid 2 hours of laughs with friends.

I may not look like it but I do love my rocking chair

Mom and Dad are opening presents

Breakfast with Grandpa Reg like a big boy

Grandpa Reg, Grandma Linda and Cade

My parents came down on New Year's eve because we celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family on New Year's day. Sean and I got a chance to go out to a movie to celebrate New Year's eve. We went to Avatar and both really enjoyed it. It took me awhile to get used to the 3D but eventually my eyes adjusted. Totally worth the disorientation though. On New Year's day we went over to my aunt and uncle's house and celebrated with my cousins and their husbands and kids.

Cade and I took a second to get a pic

Cade's second cousin Elli trying to "feed" him his water

Blowing out the electric candle with great-auntie Susan
Rocking in his chair: he says "rock, rock"

He's a Big Boy Now

2009-12-14T21:04:00.008-06:00

On Saturday, Cade got his haircut for the first time. Right before my eyes, my baby became a little boy. He looks so grown up now. The actual cut went pretty well. Sean held him, I fed him cookie and Jill cut as fast as she could. We tried giving him a big tootsie roll pop but he wanted nothing to do with it so luckily Jill had a nice container filled with cookies for her clients. Once I started feeding him the cookie, the tears stopped and the haircut was completed.

My baby

The tears start
He realized that there was hair on his finger (hair is his favorite toy)
Mom took away his hair toy
Both boys with their new haircuts
The big boy

The Kissing Fool

2009-12-02T19:33:00.001-06:00

Cade has become a kissing fool. He has started kissing anything and everything. Here's a list:
1. Momma
2. Dada
3. Belle
4. Sophie
5. Lucy
6. Grandma Linda
7. Grandpa Reg
8. Auntie Marcy
9. Cousin Phillip
10. The ECSE teacher
11. The stairs as he is climbing up
12. The wall
13. Momma's toes
14. Books
15. Sean's alligator head
16. Bubbles
I'm sure that there are many more things that I can't think of right now. Let's just say he is a very affectionate little boy. Today, when we went to the post office, every man, woman and child got a big smile.

He has also been expanding his vocabulary. Here's a list of his words:
1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Hi
4. Bye (bye bye da)
5. Up (up a da)
6. Quack (cack cack)
7. Meow (maow)
8. Neigh
9. Woof
10. Moo
11. Nice (nigh)
12. Apple (apo)
13. Hot
14. Hat
15. Wall
16. Bubble (baba)
17. Nose (na)
18. Da (which means what and that)

I think that's it. Not too shabby for 19 months (16 adjusted).

Posing in the sweater that he had to have for Thanksgiving. He looks so handsome :)

One of his favorite toys: the bubble wand

Bobers, Birthdays and the Zoo

2009-11-17T13:39:00.017-06:00

Today, Cade and I are spending the day inside and missing a trip to MOA and Underwater World because Cade has a cold. We were suppose to meet some friends from ECFE but I decided it's not worth it to bring a sick little boy out to the mall. I hate is when I see sick little kids being dragged around the mall coughing and sneezing all over. I hate it for them and I hate it for me. They would be much happier at home relaxing and I would be much happier if they weren't coughing all over me! He got his cold last Thursday night and kept me up from 12:30 until 3:30 Friday morning. Every time I tried to put him down he would start screaming. It was not a fun night and kind of a disappointment because he has been doing so well at bedtime. He generally says "bye-bye" and goes to sleep within 10 minutes without any screaming. He has become such a better sleeper since he turned 18 months. I really didn't think that the day would come when he consistently slept through the night. But, after a year and a half of sleep deprivation, he has finally figured out how to sleep.

Playing in the rocking chair is as good as the mall right?

Taking a spin in the desk chair
Enjoying the quilt from great-auntie Diana

This past weekend, Cade has his first guys weekend. He and Sean went to Chisholm and dropped me off at my parent's house. Cade and Grandpa Phil got much needed bonding time and I got a weekend to spend with my mom and friends. I forgot to send the camera with Sean so I don't have any pictures of their adventures but I do know Cade destroyed one of the window blinds, got to go out to eat twice and had chocolate milk for dinner. I think the 3 generations of Bober men had a great time. I know I had a good time. I got to sleep in on Saturday and go shopping most of the day then finished the day with dinner with some of my best friends.

The weekend after Halloween was Sean's birthday. Friday night we had scrumptious takeout from Ciao Bella. Then, on Saturday, we took Cade to the zoo. It was such a beautiful day. Cade got to ride around in the backpack that we got from Andy and Jill. I am so glad that they weren't using it because Cade loves it. Sean and I like it too because your hands are free and there's no bumping the stroller into peoples heels. We spent most of our time at the playground at the zoo. Cade loved the slide but couldn't go down by himself because he kept grabbing the sides and stopping himself. Then on Saturday night, we had ravioli as Sean requested and homemade chocolate cake. I spent my Friday evening making Sean's birthday cake. I think I must love that man. In fact, I know I do and he totally deserved that cake. I've been continually reminded why God made me wait so long for the right man. It's because Sean is the one and all the others were just stepping stones to get to him. For those of you who were at our wedding, you know that we had "Bless the Broken Road" for our processional (instrumental) and our first dance. Here's a few lyrics:

"Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you"

These words perfectly describe how I feel about Sean. We have had our rough times like any other married couple but ultimately I know I will live the rest of my life loving him and have his love in return.

Loving the slide

Checking out the flora at the zoo

Cade saying hi to the bear
I love this pic. My little angel boy.

Well, I think I've been sappy enough. So, I'll tell you about my day with Phillip and Cade. On the Monday after Sean's birthday weekend, I took care of Phillip for the day. It is definitely entertaining to have two boys toddling around. Cade walked up to Phillip and patted his head, said hi and then kissed his head. How sweet is that? I wish I had had the camera out at that exact moment. I got lucky and both boys napped at the same time. So, after the morning nap, we had lunch and headed outside to take a walk. I'm sure we were quite the unusual site. I had Cade on my back, Phillip in the stroller and the 2 dogs pulling all of us along. Amazingly, both boys stayed happy the entire walk, the dogs were happy to get a walk and I was happy that all went well and I got some fresh air on a sunny day.

Phillip

Fighting over the cell phone
Saying hi to Belle

Little Monster

2009-11-01T15:06:00.007-06:00

Halloween was a busy day for us. We headed to the salon for haircuts in the morning. While we were there Cade proved that he is definitely an extrovert. There was a mom and her 2 teenage daughters there and Cade needed to keep running over to talk to them. He is our little social butterfly. If he wasn't a little boy a butterfly would have been a great costume idea. Instead he was a little green monster. This is also fitting because he is in the stage of hitting and biting his parents. Usually he is so laid back but he also gets frustrated and his anger is unleashed as physical punishment for us. One one hand I hate to see him frustrated but I also can't let him think it's ok to hit me. We have been giving him 30sec-1 min timeouts for almost 2 weeks now and he still hits us. Eventually we're hoping it will stop since there's not much else we can do at this age.

After the salon we headed home to get Cade's costume on and went to MOA to check out the largest indoor trick-or-treating event. We were hoping that Andy, Jill and Phillip could've joined us but Phillip was still taking his afternoon nap while we were having dinner at the mall.

"Mom, I'm too sure about this costume"

Dad's phone is the best toy

Or maybe the best toy is a straw
Monster on the loose!Wow, we're really high.

Jack-o-lantern

2009-10-25T19:44:00.011-05:00

Today, Cade had his first experience with a pumpkin. He had a good time playing with the seeds and the stringy part. He even decided that he would eat part of the pumpkin after I carved it.

New words

2009-10-24T20:47:00.003-05:00

Here's a couple exchanges that Cade and I had today:

Me: What does the duck say?
Cade: Cack, Cack

Me: What does the horse say?
Cade: Neeiiigh

Me: What does Belle-belle say?
Cade: Maaaow

He also is now saying bye-bye in context. For example, he said bye-bye to Sean when he left for work on Thursday. He also waves while saying it. He says hi to anything and everything. Always waving enthusiastically.

His favorite gesture is the "I don't know". Alot of the times it is both hands but I only caught the one handed type. This gesture is used for "I don't know" and "Uh-oh".

He has also learned that you blow your nose in a kleenex. This is probably because he watches mommy do it many, many times per day. I hate allergies.

18 month stats

2009-10-20T21:08:00.004-05:00

Today, Cade had his 18 month appointment. It seemed like he recognized his doctor when we saw him in the hallway. The appt went well and Cade even talked to the doc. Of course, nothing was understandable. His stats are:
Height: 31 inches, 15th percentile for 18 months
Weight: 20 lbs 3 oz, 1st percentile for 18 months (he's barely on the charts but he's finally made the 20 lb mark!)
Head circumference: 18.5 in, 27th percentile for 18 months

He was such a big boy. He didn't shed a tear when he got 3 shots. I was amazed but this was the first time that I held him during the shots instead of just holding him down. His upper lip quivered but not a peep out of him.

I think that there will be some crying in the near future though. The doc said that I should work on weaning Cade in the next 6 weeks. I don't think it's going to go well. I also asked about his obsession with hair. I'm not sure if I've written about it before but Cade loves playing with hair. Any type of hair, mine, Belle's, Sophie's, Lucy's. He will find it on the floor, pull it from my head and pull it out of the poor animals backs. When I told the doc, he agreed that it is a weird obsession but not something to be concerned about since there are no other signs that something is wrong. The doc also commented on the fact that Cade makes such great eye contact and is very interactive. He said that there are no signs of autism. He also checked for signs of cerebral palsy and said that Cade's reflexes were a little off but nothing to be concerned about. If there is CP, it is very mild but nothing diagnosable yet.

Here's a cute video of Cade opening the door to wave hi to the dogs but then he closes the door and can't get it open again:

18 months

2009-10-18T20:37:00.008-05:00

Cade is 18 months old today. He has been busy walking all over and he's almost running. Now, when he falls down he will get up and keep walking instead of crawling. Changing directions is really easy for him now too. He will carry his cup and drink while walking. Vocally, he has gotten very loud and is continually talking. He still says words that are recognizable and then we never hear them again. He has said light, up, potato, clock recently. Words that he knows are dada, mama, hi (with a wave), meow, belle (the cat). He really loves to give everyone kisses. Grandma and grandpa really enjoyed that part of toddlerhood this weekend. Grandpa took care of him all day Thursday while Sean was at work and grandma and I were shopping with Marcy, my aunt and 2 cousins. It was our annual trip to Albertville and we all had such a great time. Cade was even good for grandpa.

Museum Outing

2009-10-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday we got a chance to meet Kristie, Tom, Ashley and Brooke at the Children's museum. We hadn't seen each other since Memorial day when we met up at the museum for the first time. This time Cade was running all over the place. It was too bad that we only had a couple of hours but that's what worked best with Cade's nap schedule. The kids all had a great time. I couldn't believe how much Cade wanted to run around. He played with Ashley and Brooke in the grocery store. When he tried to steal Brooke's grocery cart, Brooke wasn't too happy. The look on her face could have bored holes in him I think :) The water works part was his favorite. He bent over and tried to slurp up the water out of the tub part. I was so glad he wasn't tall enough to actually get any water. We also found some buttons to push. There's a video of him pushing the buttons and then going to kiss Sean through the glass. Too cute!

Hey, you didn't pay for that bread yet.

Brooke says, "Cade this is my cart!"

The construction worker running away without his hard hat.
Maybe he wants to be a tailor instead.
This is so cool!
Do you think I can drink this?
Playing nicely :)

I love these buttons but I love daddy more.

Favorite toys

2009-10-10T22:41:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple videos of Cade playing with a couple of his favorite toys. Now neither of these are meant to be toys of course but they provide hours of entertainment.

The dog muzzle:

The electrical cord. Don't worry, it's not plugged into anything but still it apparently is one of the most entertaining things for a one year old. Well, at least our one year old. He has been fascinated with cords for as long as I can remember.

On, off, on, off

2009-10-03T07:28:00.005-05:00

The title is referring to Cade's new favorite activity. He loves to turn the lights on and off. At 6:15 am, he got up and started flicking the light on and off since he can reach the switch. I guess it's a really good way of getting me out of bed. He also points at the lights and "asks" for us to pick him up to flip the switch. At times, he gets very upset if we don't let him. As I'm typing this, he's turning the computer on and off. This is probably not a good thing since it is connected to the TV and is our DVR. I missed a good chunk of Oprah the other day because he turned the computer off!
He continues to work on his walking and now walks just about 100% of the time. When he falls though he still prefers to crawl over to something that he can pull himself up on and then continues to walk. I've seen him stand up on his own but he must not feel totally comfortable doing that. We went outside earlier this week and he walked around the yard. He fell a few times but actually I was impressed by how well he handled the uneven terrain. He enjoyed exploring too.
Another thing that he has now learned is how to give kisses. It's very cute. He gets a determined look on his face and then leans in and gives his kiss. It's a real kiss and not his open mouth slobber to the face. Definitely a huge improvement over being slobbered on.
After two weeks, we finally have all of our new windows installed. Cade missed many naps due to the construction but I think we are starting to get back on track. The windows are wonderful. I can already tell a difference in the number of times the heat needs to come on. Now, Sean and I have the task of staining and varnishing all of the interior trim. It should be an interesting project since neither one of us is experienced in home improvement.

Phillip's 1st Birthday

2009-09-22T18:43:00.009-05:00

Today is cousin Phillip's 1st birthday. Wow, that year went fast and I'm sure Andy and Jill feel the same way. We celebrated on Saturday since Phil and grandma came down for the weekend and it was the day that Sean and I visited the salon for haircuts. Jill made a wonderful cake from scratch. Chocolate with chocolate frosting. There should be no other type of cake. Yum!

Birthday boy

Playing in the cupboards

Playing in the new hand-me-down turtle that Phillip got from the neighbors

Cade enjoying Phillip's swing
Showing off his Gopher's jersey from Grandpa PhilCake

Cade continues to work on his walking and is now choosing to walk about 50-60% of the time. He continues to be our little miracle. Just over 17 months ago, he came into this world not breathing and now look at him :) We are blessed.

Walking

2009-09-16T13:16:00.003-05:00

Cade has started walking. He still prefers crawling but has started to practice his walking more and more. He can now take many steps (5-8) before falling. Here's a quick video of him in action.

Apparently, he knew I was blogging about him because this is what he did while I was sitting here. He almost falls but catches himself. He's also blowing on his shape sorter like a whistle.

Also, here's a couple of more videos of what he's been learning lately.

Cade and Evan Do Lunch

2009-09-16T13:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, Cade and I met Amy and Evan for lunch and a little shopping. We haven't seen each other in a couple of months. Cade was so excited to see Evan that he got a big smile on his face and started reaching for Evan's stroller. For a little while, Cade was even holding on to Evan's stroller as Amy and I tried to walk. The 2 boys had a fun time at lunch too. They got to sit next to each other and reached across the table for each other.

Evan giving Cade a cracker

A straw is such entertainment

Birthday, Ponies and the Fair

2009-09-04T15:08:00.000-05:00

This past week has been very eventful. Last Saturday was my birthday and Sean and I celebrated at Cheesecake Factory and went to the movie Julie and Julia. It was definitely a chick flick but was funny enough that Sean enjoyed it too. Marcy babysat Cade in the dark. Five minutes after we left she called me to say that the power had gone out. We came back home to check on her and Sean called to find out what was going on. The power wasn't scheduled to come back on until 9:30 and had been off since 5:00. We owe her. On Sunday, we headed to North Branch to see Kathy barrel race. It was so much fun to see her ride and catch up since we hadn't seen each other since March. Eric was there too and Heather and Chris drove down for the afternoon. At one point Sean was walking Cobey (one of Kathy and Eric's horses) and Eric was holding Cade. Kathy and I were trying to figure out which man was more out of his comfort zone :) Then on Wednesday, we went to the State Fair. It was the perfect day to go. The weather was beautiful and the crowds were not bad. Cade survived the bus ride there from MOA, 5 hours of walking around and eating and then the bus ride home. We made sure that he got many opportunities to get out of the stroller and crawl around. He even danced to one of the bands. He loved cheese curds, pork chop on a stick and Sweet Martha's cookies but hated mini donuts. I think it may have been the texture of the sugar coating. Oh well, that meant more for me.

Playing with the box from one of my gifts (a webcam)

Meeting Fling
I like you Eric
Fling, up close and personal
Sean and Cobey
Rockin' at the fair
Nappin' at the fair
My 2 cuties

Weekend fun

2009-08-24T22:05:00.012-05:00

Sean and I finally put together Cade's cozy coupe that he got for his birthday. So, on Saturday while Sean did yard work, Cade and I played outside.

Apparently, Cade's aversion to grass has ended. He loved crawling through the lawn.

He can now blow kisses. He is such a cute boy. Of course, I am very biased.

Sneaky boy

2009-08-17T20:43:00.003-05:00

Here's Cade squeezing his way into the storage room. The door has a stop on it to let Belle in and keep the dogs out.

Most tolerant cat?

2009-08-17T19:44:00.002-05:00

True story

2009-08-06T21:13:00.003-05:00

This afternoon, Cade and I were having a snack. He was sitting on the floor a few feet from me. I asked him if he wanted a cracker. He shook his head no. This does not always mean no but he's starting to get the connection. But, then he crawled over to me, stood up next to my chair and looked at me and said "cack-ah". I was in awe and gave him a cracker. Of course, he wouldn't repeat saying cracker but it was fun to hear it the first time.

He's also working on repeating sounds that we make. We were telling him that Belle says meow. Then we heard him say "maaow". I guess Sean and I will need to start watching what we say since we have a little copycat in our midst.

Yesterday, the PT from the schools came for a visit. Cade warmed up right away and we had a great time. She was happy to see Cade's progress and said that he's right on track. I talked to her about our NICU follow-up clinic experience and her response was "but they just don't know Cade". She felt that the assessment of 8 months for cognitive development was way off because it was based on such a small snapshot of time. Based on her time spent with him and his fine motor skills, she would say that he is on track cognitively.

Today, Cade had his 15 month check-up and all went well there too. I won't go over his stats again since I just posted those last week. His pediatrician said that there are still no big concerns and Cade seems to be on the normal developmental path.

Turning 1 (again)

2009-08-01T22:41:00.011-05:00

Today was Cade's adjusted 1st birthday. We were at Andy and Jill's for dinner since we got our hair done today. Cade and Phillip got a chance to play and we had cake to celebrate.

Moving on up

2009-07-28T16:12:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, we got some very encouraging news at Cade's neuro appointment. The CT scan looked great and the ventricles were still small. So small still that the pressure setting was increased from 130 to 150. So, the pressure in his brain would have to reach 150 for the shunt to kick in. This will hopefully get a little more "brain juice" into Cade's brain because everyone needs some. This also means that there is a possibility that Cade's body is doing the job of draining the fluid instead of the shunt. Basically, the shunts highest setting is 200 and once that is reached, the body is doing all the work. So, in a year, Cade will get another CT scan to see where he is at and if the ventricles are still small, the setting will be increased to 170. Then, there would be the possibility of setting it to 200 the next year. So, we hope and pray that his brain is healing itself and the shunt will not be needed. However, he will not have it removed. There is more risk (another surgery, possible hemorrhaging, infection) in removing it than leaving it in.

Today, we had an appointment at the NICU follow-up clinic. The appt consisted of an evaluation by an occupational therapist and then a meeting with a developmental pediatrician. The eval went OK but Cade doesn't usually perform when he just met someone. He would rather study the person. So, on his cognitive development he scored at a 8 month level. Some of the stuff, like taking things out of containers, he knows how to do but wasn't interested today. On all the other areas, he scored between a 11 and 12 month old. As soon as he was done being evaluated, we saw the nurse for a weight and length check. Of course, he started talking to her right away while he hadn't talked to the people that were judging him on it. Oh well. Here's his stats:
Weight: 18 lbs 12 oz ; not on the 15 month curve, 5th percentile for 12 months and 40th percentile for preemies
Length: 29 3/4"; 10th percentile for 15 months, 50th percentile for 12 months and 80th percentile for preemies
Head circumference: 45.5 cm; 15th percentile for 15 months; 40th percentile for 12 months; 40th percentile for preemies
I asked if we should be concerned about his weight and the doctor said that they don't get concerned about weight as long as their skeletal growth is on target. Since Cade is on target for length, there are no worries about weight. That was nice to hear from a doc that evaluates preemies all day. He didn't have any other concerns and we will be invited back for a follow up when Cade is 2, 3 and probably 4.

A couple firsts

2009-07-28T08:04:00.007-05:00

Cade had spaghetti for the first time and actually liked it. Here's the pictures to prove it.
He also had his first trip to the zoo. Sean and I took him to the MN Zoo on Saturday. I don't think that Cade got that much out of it but we all had a good time. He even had his first ride on my shoulders and got nibbled on by a goat.
His soccer jersey that I bought him for his birthday finally (kind of) fits. Such a cool dude!

Home

2009-07-24T23:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the anniversary of Cade getting out of the hospital and also he turned 15 months old. Sean and I were reminiscing about the oxygen tanks and the apnea monitor alarms. We are so glad that stress is no longer part of our everyday lives. Cade is still a very busy and determined boy. He crawls really fast and can stand on his own without support for about 5 seconds. From that standing position, he can usually lower himself without falling. Sean even saw him take a step but it hasn't been repeated. He now has 7 teeth (3 top, 4 bottom). The newest 2 both broke through this week so he's been awake at night alot. We think that he says "hi" in response to us. He also seems to be waving on purpose. He likes to open and close anything that has a door or drawer. His favorite face to make is a big pout with both top and bottom lips pushed out. But, I haven't gotten a picture of the pout because he has become a big ham with the camera and just starts smiling. We are so blessed to have such a happy little boy. He even laughs during his bedtime routine and he's half asleep.
We were unable to make it to his 15 month appt due to the fact that Sean's grandpa passed away on July 10th. We spent the majority of last week in Chisholm to attend the funeral and spend time with Phil, Andy, Jill and Phillip. It was nice to have the family time even though it was due to sad circumstances. Grandpa will be missed. Even though Sean has told me that he could be a stern man, he was always a loving man to me. I think Sean was a little surprised by how much he truly liked me. I loved him and will miss him but I know that he is in a better place where there is no pain or fear. Grandma, even with her dementia, has been deeply affected by his death. She is very sad and has not forgotten that her husband is gone. Even though she is going through a tough time, I think it's better that she actually remembers instead of having to relive the death everyday. She really enjoyed having Cade and Phillip around for a few days. She had a hard time remembering who's children they were but loved the fact that there were babies in her house. Sean got to spend some much needed quality time with his dad and brother while they went fishing for a day. They spent the day at grandpa's "spot". I don't think they caught much but that wasn't the point.

Too Good To Pass Up

2009-07-23T16:57:00.002-05:00

Watch this. If you haven't seen it already, you won't be disappointed.

Father's Day

2009-06-23T20:31:00.011-05:00

Well, Sean's 2nd Father's day was much better than his first, I think. We got to travel with our baby instead of visiting him in the hospital. On Friday night, we headed up to the cabin with Marcy and her dog Lola. It was a full car with 4 people and 3 dogs but the Pacifica has alot of room so everyone was comfortable. We arrived late and then on Saturday we headed up to Chisholm to see grandpa Phil and great grandma and grandpa. We had a chance to have a nice family dinner and then headed back to the cabin. With all of the traveling, Cade had a difficult time falling asleep and getting enough sleep. Somehow, he survived all of the hustle and bustle and seemed to be in good spirits most of the time.

Sitting in Grandpa Phil's computer chair

Herbie trying to play with Cade. Cade wasn't sure if he was a dog or a cat :)

Trying to drive great-grandpa's scooter
Exhausted but trying to enjoy the cabinSean's big catch (22 in, 3.9 lb walleye) that my dad made him let go. He's trying to keep the breeders in the lake.

Pool fun

2009-06-14T17:06:00.007-05:00

Today was so warm that I decided to fill Cade's little pool so he could try it out. He actually had a great time. At first, he swallowed a bunch of water but after he finished coughing and spewing water, he started to have fun. He even is starting to be able to stand for a few seconds without any support.

Here's a good pic of his teeth. He actually has 5 now (3 bottom, 2 top)
Standing with no support

Busy, busy boy - 10 months adjusted

2009-06-05T22:33:00.007-05:00

This is the magazine rack that Cade climbed while at Jill's salon. Apparently, he thought it was a ladder. It was amazing to see him. Look at that first step he had to make. I wish I had gotten a video.

We have to block the stairs now. Luckily, he hasn't figured out how to move the ottoman.

"I'm trying to figure out why daddy likes these things so much." He's licking the computer that is on our entertainment center.

"Hi Mom."

"This tree tastes funny."

May days

2009-05-27T15:25:00.014-05:00

It's been a long time since I posted because we were busy the month of May. For Mother's Day, we went up to the cabin to spend the weekend with my mom, dad and sister. Unfortunately, it was cool so there wasn't alot of outside time but Sean and my dad did get a chance to go fishing. It was a very relaxing weekend with alot of time spent catching up on sleep. We are planning on getting up there more this summer to help with the addition and spend some time with family and enjoying the outdoors.

Our Mother's Day portrait (Sean made me the necklace) On Monday after Mother's Day, the ECSE teacher came for a visit. The PT wasn't available. There were no major concerns with Cade's development and we will see them again on June 1st. Then on Thursday we headed up north again. Sean went to Lake Vermilion to fish with a group of friends and Cade and I stayed at my parent's house. It was great to see grandma and grandpa 2 weekends in a row. I got a chance to go out with my close friends from high school on Thursday night. It was so good to see them and get caught up on their lives. On Friday, Cade, my mom and I went to visit an old friend in the nursing home. I've known Ruby my whole life and she used to babysit Marcy and I while my dad was working and my mom was at choir on Wed nights. She is 96 now but is still doing fairly well. She was excited to meet Cade and couldn't get over how "normal" he is. On Sat morning, the weekend became stressful. Cade was crawling near Sophie while my mom was right next to Sophie but Sophie decided that she didn't like Cade touching her and snapped at him. He ended up with a big scratch on his nose and his forehead. Big teeth can do damage quickly. Luckily, he was fine but then Sean and I had to decide what to do with Sophie. After alot of heartache and discussion, we decided to keep her but have her muzzled or totally separated from Cade. Today, Sean got a muzzle that fits but they have been kept separate and there have been no issues. On Sunday, Sean came to pick us up and we made a stop on the way home to see my cousin who was in town. I don't think I had seen him in about 11 years so it was nice. We also got to see my other cousin's little boy for the first time. He's about a month older than Cade and such a cutie.
For Memorial Day weekend, we decided to stay home since we had been up north for 2 weekends in a row. Most of the weekend was just spent hanging out at home but on Monday we met Kristie, Tom, Ashley and Brooke at the Children's museum. I think Cade officially has a girlfriend. Brooke was born on Valentine's day so she is just a couple months older than Cade. They were really cute together.Cade's progress: He can now pull himself up to stand using just about anything. He has also figured out how to get to a sitting position without falling down. Now, he always crawls with his belly off the floor and he's getting really fast. On Monday, he climbed the entire flight of stairs and then stood up to shake the gate. Today, his 4th tooth finally broke through. Today, he was trying to have a conversation with me. I was telling him what we were going to do and after each pause he acknowledged me with a "huh" and then waited for me to talk again. On Tuesday, we went to a follow-up appt at Childrens in the audiology dept. Since he was on a ventilator, he is at a higher risk for hearing loss. The testing went well and there are no concerns right now. We will probably have another follow-up in 6 months. I think that's all for now.

Hope

2009-05-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

9 months adjusted

2009-05-01T19:38:00.006-05:00

Today, Cade is 9 months adjusted and he is still a very busy baby. He can now pull himself into standing on just about anything that he can hold onto well enough. This includes his dancing bear, his activity table, the crib, the couch and mommy. Earlier this week, I was getting him a bottle before bed and put him in his crib. I returned to a baby standing up with his pants around his ankles :) His waist is still barely big enough to hold up his pants. Also, he started standing on the crib bumper so I removed it. His crib looks so barren without it but I really don't want him to be able to climb out. He can move along his crib a little while standing. He also is able to balance with only one hand for support and is getting better at sitting rather than falling. Crawling with his belly off of the floor is improving but he still prefers to drop his belly and creep. He's faster that way. He now has 3 teeth. Two of them have just popped through (the other bottom one and one top one). We think this may be why none of us are getting sleep this week. Last night he was up 7 or 8 times from the time he originally fell asleep at 9pm and was up for the day at 7am. Maybe tonight will be better?

The Twins t-shirt we bought while he was still in the hospital

On his car that Grandma and Grandpa got him for his birthday

Summer??

2009-04-24T20:35:00.012-05:00

Well, it was summer here for a few days anyway before the cold wind blew in tonight. It gave me the perfect opportunity to put Cade in some of his summer clothes. Sean and Cade also have started swimming on Thursday nights. Last week was the first week but my camera died so here's a picture of this week. Cade would not look at me for any of the pics. He gets so cold in the pool he was probably already freezing. I took him into the yard to see what he thought of grass. You can tell he wasn't to thrilled. Also, check out the video at the end. Our baby can stand up on his own! Even though the video doesn't show it, he can actually stand for quite awhile. He got better throughout the day.

12 month stats

2009-04-22T19:13:00.003-05:00

Today we had Cade's one year appointment. The doctor was pleased with Cade's progress and growth. He has no concerns at this time. He felt like Cade was basically equivalent to lots of other 1 year olds. He asked if Cade had been seen in the Children's follow-up clinic. When I said no, he suggested that we give them a call. He said that Cade would be a positive addition to Children's research since he is doing so well. I'll give them a call and see what they say. He is still a little bean pole. Here's the stats:
Weight: 16 1/2 lbs, not on the curve for 12 months, 5th percentile for 9 months
Length: 29 in, 24 percentile for 12 months, 75th percentile for 9 months
Head circumference: 17.4 in, 4th percentile for 12 months, 25th percentile for 9 months

On Monday, ECSE came for their monthly visit and they said Cade is doing basically exactly what he should be doing for his adjusted age. We worked on showing Cade how to sit up, kneel and stand. He can get himself into a kneeling position by crawling onto a couch cushion. Then, he can get into a standing position. He can also stand against the couch and play with his toys. He still can't get himself from tummy to sitting but that should happen soon.

Party pics

2009-04-19T09:54:00.021-05:00

Happy Birthday!

2009-04-18T07:54:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by since the ordeal of Cade's birth. But, our little miracle is thriving. He's such a happy little boy. I awoke to a smiley baby this morning as with most mornings. Right now, he's working very hard on trying to crawl with his belly off the floor. He has been army crawling for quite a awhile and can go fast if he wants. He can sit for long periods of time but usually doesn't because he is on the move. Constant motion with this child. He loves to feed himself cereal and we've tried some fruits and cheese. He still doesn't like to sleep much but some days are restful. He has one tooth and he one next to it is close to breaking through. I think teething is affecting his sleep at night but I'm not sure. He loves to shake his head no, smack his lips together and has now learned how to click his tongue on the roof of his mouth. He talks quite a bit and sometimes it actually sounds like words. He loves to chase the cat and luckily Belle is tolerant. Well, I better get moving. Today is the big party and most of the prep work is done. Now, it's time to celebrate. Pictures to follow.

"I feed myself!"

2009-04-01T21:17:00.005-05:00

The title is what I believe Cade tries to tell us every meal. He has started to grab the spoon every time it gets any where near his mouth. So, while Sean was dealing with the stomach flu on Sunday, I let Cade try to feed himself. He loved getting the chance to hold the bowl and play with the spoon. He never did actually get any food in his mouth. He is doing much better with feeding himself Cheerios. So, we let him feed himself that way. And, yes, that is a bruise on his forehead. With his ability to move around, he ends up running into things. Poor baby. But, he is determined. He loves electrical cords and tries to eat everyone he sees. Today, I placed him about 8 feet away facing the opposite direction from the cord that he wanted. He promptly turned around and headed straight for the cord.

Just a phase?

2009-03-25T19:48:00.004-05:00

For the last 3 weeks, Cade has been screaming just about every other night for most of the night. On the off nights, I think he's so exhausted that he just crashes. My theories as to why include separation anxiety and teething. Lately, he doesn't want me out of his sight. If I put him down, he immediately screams. Sometimes, he calms himself and sometimes he goes into hysterics. I know this is just a phase but really hope that it ends soon. On top of everything, I'm pretty sure that he's teething. His bottom gum looks swollen and on a few occasions, I've been able to stop the screaming by using some Orajel. Needless to say, the entire family is in a continual state of exhaustion.
We took a mini spring break trip up north the weekend of March 15th. We spent a few nights with my parents and saw our friends in Duluth then went up to Chisholm. Everyone was happy to see Cade (and us I suppose). My parents baby sat for an evening and Sean and I got to go to dinner and get some coffee. When we reached the driveway, my mom called to say that Cade had been in hysterics for 45 min. Luckily, we were home and could calm him down. He was fine before he fell asleep but when he woke up he didn't see mommy or daddy and wasn't happy about it. My parents tried everything but nothing worked. Once we got home, he calmed down and was asleep again in about 15 minutes. He is definitely having separation problems or "stranger danger." He enjoyed all of his other time spent with grandma and grandpa. He also had a good time with our friends. We all had a good time actually. We always do. It's good to have close friends. It's just too bad that we don't see them often. We got to Chisholm in time for grandpa Phil's birthday. We got a chance to spend time with great-grandma and great-grandpa too. They were absolutely thrilled to see Cade and luckily Cade was happy to see them.
We headed home on Tues and then I got the stomach flu on Wed. I was sick from Wed night until this past Mon. Five days of having stomach problems is never a good thing. Sean ended up taking Thurs and Fri off to take care of Cade so I could sleep. I was so tired. But, I got better and neither of the boys got sick. We had a scare with Cade on Sun. He puked 3 times and we called the doctor. Sean made a run to Target for all the needed supplies (pedialyte, bananas, rice) but thank god there wasn't any more puking or diarrhea.
Cade is really getting around these days. He still isn't crawling with his belly off the ground but he can get wherever he wants to go. He follows me into the laundry room, goes after any cord that is hanging and tries to squeeze himself into small spaces. He is also able to feed himself Cheerios now. He's able to pick them off his tray and shove them in his mouth. Sometimes he gags on them which causes him to puke which is gross but he is learning.

I'm a McCutie