The Artiste

In honor of GaGa and Papa coming home to CO for the summer, Caden broke out his paints for the first time (yikes!) and made them a masterpiece

The finished product...

Pretty good for the first attempt, huh? Welcome home GaGa and Papa!!

Lego Stacking

On Caden's 2 year developmental evaluation we were asked whether or not he could stack at least 7 small objects on top of one another

I can't remember how I answered that question,

but I don't have any doubt whether or not he can do it now!

Take that developmental evaluation!

That's 9 blocks in case anyone is counting - and yes, if you couldn't tell from the wobbly tower, he did it all by himself.

Nice job, CP!

Slidin'

Well, that's another way to do it!

"Cay-Cay's Pawk"

Caden loves the park

We spend many hours at the parks near our house. So, for his birthday, our families chipped in to buy Caden a park of his very own. JZ and Papa spent all day putting the park together.

The directions were a little complicated

so they called in a reinforcement

who was super helpful

We decided that, if nothing else, he could always slide down the hot tub

Luckily, the master carpenters were successful and Caden is really excited about it!

The slide still needs to be attached, but he was able to swing to his little heart was content

Which took a very long time

because "Cay-Cay's pawk" is "bun!"

And, in other unrelated news, this is the knife I had to use to unlock our bedroom door after Caden locked himself inside.

I think I'll keep this handy. Something tells me I'll need it again soon.

#34

Caden P loves his Daddy. I mean he really loves his Daddy. Nobody can get CP laughing quite like his Daddy. So, on JZ's 34th birthday Thursday, it was the perfect day to tell him how much we love him. JZ got spoiled all day - presents, lunch with Gram and DeeDee, dinner with Donna and Kim, and his favorite Texas Cake (not made by me). He loves Texas Cake, but he was kind enough to share with the rest of us, and share the blowing-the-candles-out job with CP (who is now well versed in singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles. I'm pretty sure he thought we were singing to him).

He says his favorite gift came from Caden. It's a poster sized print of this picture

This is JZ and C driving Gramps's tractor a few months ago - they are both still talking about this day. I guess he loves this more than the beer tour for two that I gave him. Weird

And, just in case you thought I was kidding about how much CP loves his Daddy, here is a video of my boys wresting. He has moved on from giving Pooh the people's elbow (video #3) to pinning Daddy

Happy Birthday JZ! You really are so special (or 'peshal as Caden would say) to both of us. I know I don't tell you nearly enough how much I love you and what a wonderful hubby and daddy you are, but I do and you are. Happy #34 Old Man! :)

Santa Claus is Comin'... to TCH!

A few days ago we took a trip to The Children's Hospital - but don't worry, Caden is fine. We went to deliver the toys that we collected from our super generous friends that came to Caden's birthday party

On Wednesday, Caden, JZ, and I went waaaay down to the main hospital in Aurora

with a huge bag of toys that made us feel like Santa Claus

I don't have many pictures of our visit there because honestly, it was hard for my littlest friend. It took him awhile, but he figured out there were toys in that bag. Toys he couldn't play with. Toys he was giving to this (nice, very sweet and understanding) lady. He, much to the embarrassment of his mommy and daddy, pitched a fit in the volunteer office. We had a talk and decided to try it again. Time #2 went slightly better. He didn't want to help carry the toys, but he didn't yell either. I'll call that success. So I only have one picture of the boys, but at least it's enough to prove we were there

One thing he did like about the hospital was there super cool train display they had set up. Caden P loves him some choo-choos. The had a neat train set made out of Legos, but we didn't get any pics of that because JZ had the camera and he was lovin' the old-school choo-choo set

Complete with a Coors rail car
This was a huge learning experience for both of us. CP, in his little two-year old way, learned a lesson in giving. And giving good stuff. That's hard. JZ and I learned how blessed and lucky we are. We may have to deal with temper tantrums, but we have never had to spent a night at the hospital with our child. The Children's Hospital is a wonderful, brand new, state of the art facility with amazing doctors and nurses and are preforming miracles every day. And I hope we never have to go there. We both agreed that we would rather deal with a million fits than have to spend even one night in that wonderful facility. We both have a soft spot for Children's because they took such wonderful care of our Paige (Jeremy's little cousin that was diagnosed with liver cancer when she was two and is now a lively 8 1/2 year old!). I'm so glad we have a facility for kiddos so near us, but I hope our only visit is to drop off toys! Thank you again to our friends and family that donated toys so that we could all have this valuable learning experience!

Two Year Stats

In case you missed the memo, Caden is now two! Today we went for his 2 year well child (officially not a well baby anymore) visit. Lots of things are different when you reach the two year mark - I no longer had to strip him down and sit him on the scale. When you're two you stand on the big scale. Serious business. Thankfully, they also stop measuring head circumference. This is good news for us.

As usual, Caden P charmed everyone. He talked from the time we walked into the office until the time we left. The Doctor is not concerned about communication :) He did great on both his developmental and physical evaluation. The doctor said his ears are clear and that he has not gotten his two year molars yet (that should be a good time!)

He was 26lbs 8oz (30%). That was a little surprising to me because he is eating like a horse and feels like he weighs 56lbs. Then they measured his length and I realized where all the food is going - he is 35in (70%). I guess he did hit a growth spurt, it was just in his length, not his weight! 6 months ago he was 24lbs 9.6oz (30%) and 32.5in (50%), so he gained 2lbs and grew almost 3in. in 6 months. I have no idea if that is average or not, I just like numbers!

I have often times heard that as soon as you get their schedule down they change it up on you - I agree wholeheartedly! Apparently 2 year olds do not need to sleep 15 hours a day. Huh, weird. Almost overnight he has shaved a good 45min to an hour off his nap and his night. So instead of sleeping 12 hours at night and 3 hours during the day, he's closer to 11 - 11 1/2 at night and 2-2 1/2 during the day. The doctor assures me this is normal, but I miss the good 'ol days!

And, just because I can't bear the thought of posting this without including any pictures, here are a couple I took just this afternoon - Caden with his newest friend, Beckam

This picture is cute for two reasons - First, Caden had to go upstairs and get his "yell ba-dee" for Beckam - so sweet! Second, I love the look that Caden is giving Beckam - who are you and what are you doing here?!?

And just for little baby fun and comparison, here is sweet Beckam (7 weeks)

and here is Caden at 8 weeks, sitting in the same chair

Yep, the good 'ol days

Zahrte Landscaping CO

I guess if we ever need a little extra income we could always start our own family landscaping business

It would definitely be a Father/Son business

As long as the mower doesn't get too close - it's a little loud

Some day he's going to want to be paid for this work

Today, he thinks it's cool

Puppy

Previously, I have mentioned Caden's love affair with all things Barney. And while he still loves Barney, there is a new love that might have taken over his heart, Puppy.

He found puppy at GaGa and Papa's house in FL. My mom has had this white, stuffed lovie for several years. Once Caden saw it, it was true love.

GaGa tried to keep Puppy in FL so he would have something to play with when we visit. CP was having none of that. Puppy needed to come home with us.

Puppy also sleeps with Caden (check out the next to last picture. See Puppy in there?) and often times accompanies us on exciting outings such as the grocery store.

GaGa and Papa, this post is just for you. To let you know that Puppy is still loved and cared for.

I hope Puppy doesn't get a complex about his name 'cause, ya know he's not actually a puppy, but a bear. Whatever, I think Puppy is tough.

Now We Know

We've never actually witnissed Caden crawling out of his pack-n-play, but we're guessing that it must look something like this

Our life just got a little more exciting

Mom-Mama-Mommy and Caden's Day

This year, Caden's actual birthday was on Mother's Day. I can't think of a better little guy to share "my" day with than the one who made me a mom in the first place!

My special day actually started early. On Friday I received some lovely gifts from my boys - roses and chocolate covered strawberries (+a spa gift card - yippee!!)

We started out the birth/mother's day by taking this handsome 2-year old to church

After church we went to JZ's Aunt DeeDee's house to celebrate all of the moms and the May birthdays. Actually, it wasn't just the moms that were spoiled - all of the girls were well taken care of, even Belle

It was a beautiful day int he neighborhood and Caden loved playing at DeeDee's house. He spent the day digging in the dirt and playing t-ball

One thing CP did not do that day was nap. We put him down for a nap in his pack-n-play with no problems. 30 minutes later JZ went inside and heard, "Hi, Daddy." He turned around and CP was standing on the stairs! He had crawled out of the pack-n-play, opened the bedroom door, and walked out. We put him down again - in another room, in the middle of the floor, with the door shut tightly - and it wasn't 5 minutes before he was knocking on the inside of the door saying, "Night-night all done." Apparently he is now a big boy. Luckily, he hasn't crawled out of his crib yet, but it won't be much longer!


After his no-nap, we opened presents and had cake. There were two cakes for the birthday kids. A little Elmo cake for CP

and another one for JZ and DeeDee
They were super yummy!
Two of the greatest blessings in the world is to have a mom and to be a mom and I'm thankful that my boys made the day so special for me