Halloween fun

Happy Halloween,

To give you a quick update before the Halloween fun- Caiden had his 6 month check up last Thursday.  He is 15 lbs 13oz (which is the 25th percentile).  He slowed down growing in length and is at 26.5 inches, which means he went from the 90th percentile at 4 months to the 50th percentile at 6 months).  She said he is doing great developmentally and told me to get him moving on solids- adding more vegetables and fruits and then proteins.  Here he is with his carrots (he liked them the first day, but not so sure about them the second day):

And now on to Halloween fun...

Sunday we carved a pumpkin- just a plain old jack-o-lantern this year.

Wednesday was the mom's league Halloween party.  Since it was about 85 degrees and we were outside, I put Caiden in his "lighter weight" costume that my dad got him.

Thursday was Trick-or-treating at work with Eric.  His area (Revenue Management) always decorates and invites employees to bring their kids in to work.  About 750 guests came through that day.  Here's a few pics of the decorations.

On Saturday, our wonderful neighbors Jamie and Joe Don invited us to their annual Halloween party.  I wanted to help out so I offered to help her with some decorations.  I ordered a printable party pack from Etsy and went to town:



a small banner



a big banner and paper flowers

a little sign

I made the paper flowers and printouts for the wreaths

cupcake toppers


I also made cookies (pumpkin/oatmeal/chocolate chip) and pumpkin cupcakes shaped like ghosts.

We had already gotten Caiden's costume, so I had to come up with coordinating costumes for me and Eric. Caiden couldn't stay in his costume very long because here in TX it's still 80+ degrees and he was about to be well-done (pun intended)

There were some other great costumes too. I'll have to get the group photos from Jamie to upload, but here's my two faves:

cotton candy- very creative!



 Hope you had a wonderful Halloween as well!

Six month photos

Lindsey just sent the link for Caiden's 6-month pictures.  As always she did a great job- especially considering that Caiden was not particularly cooperative this time.  Check them out at Caiden's pics!

My baby boy is SIX months old!

Wow- everyone says that time goes fast and they sure are right.  I cannot believe that six months has already passed!  Caiden has already grown and changed so much and I am so blessed that I have been able to be with him every step of the way.  We don't have his six-month doctor's appointment until next week so I'm estimating his stats: 28"long and 16 pounds. 
Here are some of his milestones this month:

•  Turns toward sounds and voices
• Rolling- he is still only rolling from back to tummy, but he is really determined to get moving.  He pushes with his legs and scoots a little bit (while dragging his face across the floor!)
• He has eaten rice cereal, oatmeal, and wheat cereal.  Today for lunch we introduced PEAS!  He liked them!
• He can sit without support for a couple of minutes before tipping over. But he prefers to stand (while we hold him of course)
• He passes objects from hand to hand and puts EVERYTHING in his mouth to explore. 
• He has recently started babbling- more like talking than the squealing that he was doing before.  He still squeals though.
• He laughs a lot when we play with him and has started to play peek-a-boo a little.
• Still no teeth, but constant drooling and chewing.
• He just recently started taking a pacifier.  He won't keep it for long, but he will suck/chew on it for a little while and it seems to soothe him some.
• He is sleeping at night from about 8pm-3am, then nurses and usually goes back to sleep until 7am.  He is still not good about daytime naps unless someone is holding him or he is in the car seat/stroller.

As I said in a previous post, October has been a pretty busy month.  We have been visiting pumpkin patches, the arboretum and the zoo with my Stroller Strides moms group and next week is full of Halloween festivities.

Halls Pumpkin Farm

Halls Pumpkin Farm

Dallas Arboretum

Dallas Arboretum

Stroller Strides pals at the Arboretum

Ft Worth Zoo

We've also been enjoying a little post season baseball. We are big fans so we are pumped that last night the Rangers clinched the American League Championship and are headed to the WORLD SERIES!! Here's a pic of a special little fan:

I'll post again next week with an update on the Rangers and Caiden's doctor appointment!  Until then...

Canton, pumpkins and Iowa

We have had an eventful October and it's barely the second week!  We started it off with a fun visit from my mom and her friend Sharon.  We wanted to go to the First Monday Trade Days in Canton.  If you are not familiar with it- you should check it out (if you live in DFW). Unfortunately our trip over to Canton was delayed sitting on I-35 for over an hour and a half due to the traffic going to the OU/UT game that day!  But once we made it we had lots of fun shopping.  The weather was beautiful- not too hot!  Here are a few pics:

taking a break

enjoying a little funnel cake

a great find- personalized in an hour!

Caiden and I were sad to see my mom leave on Monday morning, but after she did we went to our first pumpkin patch.

my first pumpkin- when can I carve it??

this donkey liked Caiden- he kept coming over to where we were standing

he even tried to eat Caiden's pumpkin

This past weekend, we headed up to Des Moines to see Eric's family.  His sister, Amy, hadn't seen Caiden since he was born and he needed to meet his great-grandparents.  Aunt Amy and Grandma Vickie had the house all prepared with toys to play with.

He loved the texture of this foam mat!

Hanging with grandma

Aunt Amy loves to play

great-grandpa Marv

great-grandma Georgia

Before I forget, Lindsey did a wonderful job once again on Caiden's 5 month pics:  Check them out at Caiden's 5 month pics.  I can't wait for more October fun- with more pumpkin patches, and Halloween! 

Hasta la proxima!