So cliche, but so true--our little guy is growing up so fast!

At the zoo

• Ever since we went to Utah where it was FREEZING cold, Cade has liked wearing hats.  When we put on our jackets and shoes to go outside, he points to his head and wants to wear his hat too.
• One night we were at my parents house just hanging out.  Carde really wanted to go outside and went to my dad and "asked" him to take him out.  My dad said that it was cold and dark.  So Cade went to the coat closet and got Grandpa's coat.  Then my dad couldn't say no and they went out for a few minutes (because it really was cold and dark.)
• Cade has started throwing tantrums. When he gets told no or doesn't get his way he lays on the floor and cries.  I usually ignore him for a bit then try to distract him with something else.  One day he wanted his binky out of bed.  He doesn't get his binky out of bed though.  So he sat on the floor and cried.  I went in the living room and was doing something else.  He stopped crying, walked into the living room and then sat down and cried again. He is definitely getting more opinionated and knows what he wants. 

Playing in a cardboard box

• To say that Cade enjoys vacuuming is an understatement.  I think I mention this every month, but it remains true!  We have to keep our bedroom door shut so he doesn't see the vacuum.  We probably vacuum every other day.  Cade still loves his battery carpet sweeper, which helps.
• A few times Cade has started moving the dining chairs off the carpet into the kitchen.  Then he comes over and says his version of vacuum.  Smart kid.  Today I was vacuuming and moving the chairs as I went.  He put his vacuum down and moved one of the chairs into the kitchen for me.
• My parents had a small plastic chair that Cade enjoyed playing with.  He had to figure out how to sit in it.  At first he tried climbing up into it, which didn't work.  Finally he learned he just had to back up and sit down.  One time he tried and backed up next to the chair and sat on the floor, completely missing the chair.
• We have a small basketball hoop set up in the living room.  Cade is getting pretty good at dunking!
• He loves to build towers and sing action songs.  He does actions for the wheels on the bus, if you're happy and you know it, monkey's on the bed, monkeys and the alligator, itsy bitsy spider, the wiseman and the foolish man, and Mr. Sun.  Every time I put him to bed, he does the actions for the Wiseman song and so I sing that for him.
• Cade is starting to talk.  He says about a dozen words when prompted and a few without help.  My favorite is buldozer.  He has a big plastic buldozer and when he sees it he says bububu.  It is very cute.
• When Cade want something he will get right in your face and say OOOO with his lips all puckered out.

• One day we pulled the couch cushions off and let him jump around.  He thought that was amazing.  Luckily, he didn't pick up on it and we've only done it that one time. 
• Cade likes to use a spoon to feed himself.  He can do sticky food by himself--yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal etc.  He also likes to use a fork and stab food and put it in his mouth.  He does not like when he has food on his hands, but he really likes to dip in anything (ketchup, ranch, syrup.)
• Cade still loves baths and likes when I blow bubbles into the tub.  It works well because then the soap stuff doesn't get on the carpet. 

I know this is a little late, but I've got to do it anyway. 
Cade is 16 months!

• He can say a few words when prompted:  including mama, dada, grandma, grandpa, apple, moo, vroom, bubble, go bath, yum and Alan
• He loves to hold two hands while walking around and swing

Swinging with Grandpa and Melissa

• He loves to walk up and down the stairs at our apartment.  He really had fun going up and down the carpeted, padded stairs at Grandma's house in Utah.
• He had fun with our Christmas tree.  Whenever he was awake he would point to it and sign Please so I would turn the lights on. 
• He is starting to wear size 2T shirts
• He loved playing with stickers on the airplane.  He put the stickers on the back of the seat and then on the tray table and then the window and then all over again.  He does the same thing with magnets at home:  fridge, dishwasher, stove
• Cade loves to play outside.  He picks up sticks and digs in the dirt.  He likes to climb stairs and go down slides.  He also just likes to run down the sidewalk.
• Cade's favorite foods include applesauce, yogurt, milk and ketchup.  He likes anything he can dip such as pancakes, hot dogs, veggies/ranch etc. He likes to eat anytime someone else is and will eat anything you give him (except bananas.)  Some of his favorite non-typical foods are pickles, grapefruit and salsa. 
• Cade loves to "help" in the kitchen.  I let him sit on the counter and hold a spoon or whatever.  He just likes to see what is going on. 

Helping Grandma cook

• Cade is officially down to 1 nap now.  He wakes up in the morning around 6:30 and sleeps from about 12-2:30 give or take, then goes to bed at 7:30.  He is so easy to put to bed.  I ask him if he is tired and he waves night-night and goes in his room.  Sometimes when it is getting close to bedtime he doesn't wait for me.  He just waves night-night and lays down in the living room or goes in his room.  We sing a couple of songs while he lays in bed and then leave.  I usually don't hear anything after I leave.  When he wakes up, he sits up or walks around sucking his binky until I come get him.  I really hope we get this lucky with the next one. 
• Cade knows when he is being funny too.  He came into my room the other day and saw a very full laundry basket.  He started throwing the clothes all over the room and laughed at himself the whole time.  I couldn't help but laugh back. 
• Cade LOVES to vaccuum.  I think he vaccuumed almost everyday we were in Utah. 

Vaccuuming with Grandpa

**Long post with no pictures yet.  Blogger isn't giving me the option of uploading from my computer. . . ug.  I'll figure it out soon.  Now it is about my bedtime.  :) **

We were able to spend quite a bit of time in Utah over Christmas this year.  I loved getting to see lots of family and good friends.  It was really fun to share Cade with his grandparents too. Cade and I flew out on the 18th of December.  Kirk met us there on the 23rd (it was supposed to be the 21st but his flight got cancelled resulting in a 48 hour delay--uuggh).  Kirk came back to Memphis on January 6th and Cade and I flew on the 7th (Monday tickets are a lot cheaper:) ).  Here is a brief recap of what we did each day.

18th:  Fly to SLC.  Plane delayed 1 hr but not a big deal.  I got our seat moved so we were next to an empty one which was awesome.  Cade liked playing with stickers, eating and ripping apart the sky mall magazine.  We went to my parents house.  Alan and Kristi came over for dinner and to say hi. 

19th:  Mom stayed home from work to hang out with me.  We finished up some Christmas shopping and watched a movie.

20th:  Mom got sick with the flu, I didn't see her all day.  Dad and Melissa were off school and we went to Southtown Mall and let Cade ride the train. 
He loved it.  He also played at the dinosaur thing at the mall then fell asleep in the car coming home--rare thing.  He stayed asleep when I carried him inside.  We watched the BYU bowl game that night with Alan, Kristi and some friends.  We almost turned it off at halftime, but were glad we didn't because the cougars had a great comeback.  Alan made friends with Cade by feeding him olives off his pizza.

21st:  Dad and I went to Costco and a few stores he needed to go to.  We went to lunch at Chick Fil a but had to get it to go because Cade was with us and not feeling well.  It was still really good though.  Grandma and Grandpa Waters came over in the afternoon to say hi and see Cade.  Kirk was supposed to come in but his plane had mechanical problems and they cancelled the flight.  He couldn't get on another one until the 23rd because of all the travellers.  We were super frustrated and sad. 

22nd:  My birthday!  My dad made me crepes for breakfast and then I got to go hang out with Katie, on of my best friends from LA.  She has a son Cade's age we'd never met.  It was great to sit and chat for a few hours.  I made the big move over to the Morris' house for the next week. Kirk's brother Scott and sister in law Kara were there too.  We drove out to Thankgiving point to see lights that night.  Scary thing--as we were getting on the freeway after the lights, we ran into a metal file sorter and dragged it down the road a bit.  It got jammed under the car and Scott ended up jacking up the car to pull it out.  The bumper was torn up a bit. 

23rd:  Went to church in the morning.  Kirk's mom played a beautiful piano solo.  Alan and Kristi came over to visit for a bit in the afternoon and then Lisa's sister and family came over for dinner.  It was fun, but Cade was sick and that made it a little harder.  Kirk got in that night!

24th:  We took family pictures in the morning, despite lots of snow falling (thanks Cali!).  Kirk went fishing and I made rolls then we went to the Smith family Christmas party.  We left Cade home because of his cold and staying up late.  We gave Grandpa Smith a ride home.  It was fun to visit with him without lots of other people around. 

25th:  Christmas!  We opened presents with Kirk's family in the morning then had a good breakfast.  We went over to my parents house in the afternoon and met up with Alan and Kristi and opened a few more gifts.  We got to skype with Lindsey and her family too.  My mom made a yummy dinner and then we headed back to the Morris'.

26th:  Lots of snow helped Kirk decide to not go fishing again.  We opted for shopping instead.  Kirk, Tom and Connor went to Cabelas after dropping Scott, Kara and I off at the new outlet stores.  Lisa was awesome and stayed home with Cade.  It was really nice to have a few breaks and leave him with Grandparents.  Kirk got his Christmas present at Cabelas--new waders.  I got a necklace, earrings and some black boots at the outlets.  Kirk, Cade and I had dinner with Jill and Quintin that night.  It is so fun to see them again.  They live in San Antonio and we only see them when we both go home for Christmas. 

27th:  Kirk went fishing in the morning and I went to my parents house.  My mom and I made baby girl hair bows while Cade slept then we went with the Morris family to Timpanogos Temple with Connor for his first time.  That night we ate a bear roast from the one Tom got hunting this fall.  We also went to the BYU basketball game. 

28th:  Kirk, Tom and Scott went skiing all day.  Lisa, Kara, Connor, Cade and I went to JoAnns, Archivers, and Costco.  I was also able to go to lunch with Breanne.  She has been one of my favorite people in the world since we were 10 and I haven't seen her for 4 year.  She lives in Vermont now with her family.  It was great to sit and talk and catch up.  We had a yummy shrimp dinner and played card games that night.  We also went to Yogurtland.  With our basketball tickets, we got 5 oz of free yogurt!  Cade thought that was great!

29th:  Kirk went fishing and had a slow, cold day.  We took Cade sledding in the morning.  Kristi was jealous, so she and Alan came over in the afternoon and took him out again.  He thought it was awesome both times.  We said good-bye to Scott and Kara and went to my parents house to sleep that night. 

30th:  Went to church in the morning and then took a nap in the afternoon.  My mom's family came over for dinner for their Christmas party.  It was fun to see everyone again. 

31st:  Kirk went fishing and had an awesome day.  shopping
We went to Glenn's that night for his annual soup feast.  I got to see a few more cousins/aunts/uncles/significant others.  My parents and I took Cade home early to put him to bed and Kirk and Melissa stayed to hang out.  We watched Iron Man at home to celebrate New Year's.

1st:  Kirk left with his mom and Connor to go to Washington.  He was visiting Scott and meeting with a few dentists about potential job opportunities.  I  woke up with a bad sore throat and didn't feel like doing anything all day.  We watched some football and I sat around a lot, but I think it is what I needed. 

2nd:  I took it easy again in the morning.  We made a quick trip to Walmart, but that's all.  That evening we went out to dinner.  It was a good idea, but I got carsick on the way.  I took one look at the menu and decided that nothing sounded good and I felt really nauseous.  About 10 minutes later, I visited the bathroom and then we left without ordering.  I though Cafe Rio sounded good so we got some food there, but I didn't eat much.  Good thing it is yummy leftover!

3rd:  Back to school and work for my family.  Cade and I stayed home and played and made dinner.  I was still feeling sick.  That night my throat was still hurting pretty bad and I ended up going to an urgent care place to make sure it wasn't strep.  It wasn't and it finally started getting better a couple days later.

4th: I stayed home again most of the day.  It was nice to be able to take it easy and let others play with Cade and not have to make dinner etc.   

5th:  We went to Cabelas and Cade enjoyed seeing the fish and all of the stuffed animals. We came home and took naps.  Kirk got home that night and Alan and Kristi came over to say hi. 

6th:  I started feeling a lot better.  Kirk and I got all of our stuff packed up.  We had an early dinner with my family and then Kirk was off to the airport.  Luckily, everything went as planned with this flight.

7th:  Cade and I left for the airport.  Kirk's mom drove us up there and we got stuck in traffic.  We got to the airport 50 minutes before our flight.  Luckily, everything was smooth and we got to our gate with plenty of time left.  I even got my seat changed again so I was next to an empty one.  So much better!  We got home and both took naps.  Kirk came home from school and we had some pizza and then made a quick trip to the grocery store to fill our empty fridge.

Cade's favorite things:  Vacuuming with anyone who would let him, climbing all over Skeeter (dog), letting Melissa pull him around in the laundry basket, going down the stairs really fast, getting lots of attention, having new places to explore, putting on his hat to go outside, helping with cooking, helium balloons,