Airplanes

We have discovered a new love, AIRPLANES!!! On our trip to Coronado Cade discovered airplanes. Seeing as though there is a naval base on Coronado, it was pretty much a given. We saw airplanes at the beach, on our balconies, and all over town. From inside our house he would hear an airplane, point to his ear and then try to go outside to spot it in the sky. He got so good at this he would often spot a white airplane the size of a speck in the sky before the rest of us would. He quickly picked up the airplane sign (similar to the "I love you" hand but move it up and down by your head).

He even paid attention during takeooff and landing on the way home. It was cool to have him notice something other than the tray table and lights. But more about flying with a baby later.

On tv today he saw a plane on the news (thanks Steven Slater!) and he was so excited, got down from his little table and chair and did the airplane sign and did his quick step in front of the tv. Gotta get it on video for you, I know.... So if you see me YouTube-ing airplanes for Cade or spending Saturdays at the airport, now you know why.

What he learned this summer

Time for the periodic skills update... Now that I've been home all summer with him (minus the eleven days stolen from my summer for district trainings and meetings...grr) I feel like I can take some credit for this skill aquisition. I mean, I love my daycare ladies, but c'mon...2ish months of me with my son has paid off. Here are some of the ways he blows my mind these days:

1. Crawls over and under chair rungs in some elaborate over/under army obstacle course fashion.
2. Baby signs out the wazoo: hat, shoes, head, bird, stars, plane, fly, more, outside, book, milk, want, ball, bath, please, bubbles, dog, drink, gentle, light, noise/hear, quiet, stop, rain, sleep, toothbrush, wait, where (that's 28 that I can count that he does on his own and in return to us!)
3. Goes to get his toothbrush and brushes his teeth (and steals Mommy's toothbrush. He's SO the only person on this planet that can get away with it without me throwing up)
4. Colors with crayons. on paper.
5. Swims! Isn't afraid of the pool, jumping in the pool, the ocean, seaweed. He can "monkey walk" along the edge of the pool to get to the steps the whole length of the pool. Not so much a fan of the backfloat, but we've made progress.
6. Dips. Not tobacco, but thanks for that vote of confidence. No no. This kid dips his food into a variety of condiments. Salsas galore, ketchup, pico de gallo, yogurt. Haven't exposed him to Ranch yet. That evil will be saved for later. This kid dips his Cheerios, Mum Mums, grilled chicken, fruit into whichever dip is on his plate. We've seen some interesting combos too. Strawberries in ketchup is kind of common. Just because it's on the plate, doesn't mean you do it, buddy.
7. Climbs. Cute at first, not so cute when he's hanging off the fridge like a little monkey or sitting on your coffee table like a little Buddha.
8. Waves. To freaking ev-ry-one. I like to do in & out shopping. Okay, that's an outright lie. I like to quietly, leisurely stroll through Target, Kroger, CVS when I need a quick tampon run, Taco Bell. Instead we have made friends ev-ry-where. I'm anti-small talk and this kid traps in small talk circles everywhere we go. "Oh Hiiiiiiiiiii, baby! Well aren't you cute. Yes you are, yes, you are so cute. [I stand there smiling, then smiling awkwardly at being the third wheel to this lovefest, finally they look me up and down to verify, yes, I possibly gave birth to such a gorgeous creature, baffling, I know, and then] "How old is he?" I quickly calculate (as if they'll know the difference) "16 months" Then I have to put up with "Oh, so he's not 2 yet? No. hmm." And then they give me a rundown of their grandchild's size and they tell me if they think Cade is big or small for his age. I don't know why I'm paying my pediatrician. If my insurance knew he was getting examined at CVS when all I wanted was a 2-second Playtex run they would be pissed that I still go to an actual pediatrician.
9. Growing teeth skills. This kid cuts teeth in pairs. Always has been 2 at a time after that first tooth popped through. Now he's cutting 4 at a time! So much for my sleeping in summer baby who was waking up at 7 blessed 30 back in June. Now we're up at 4:30 and again at 5:30. I can't complain, at least he is getting this teeth business out of the way FAST.


Night night bloggies. I can't EVEN begin to think of more skills. I'm sure he's got some cool other things going on worthy of reporting, but I'm exhausted from recalling small talk...and waking up at 5:40.

Ode to my Uncle Alex

Our trip to Cali would not be at all complete without a visit with Uncle Alex. Alex was in LA for a conference and drove down to San Diego to stay with us. We went out to Pacific Beach and hung out the first day, which was one of our summer haunts when we were growing up. Cade was 9 months old when they last saw each other at Christmas, so now at 15 months he's got some skills to show off. (Cade, not Alex, that is) Nick & I both think that Cade looks like his uncle, so it was cool to see them together. Mom says Cade acts just like Alex at this age, both scary and funny for those of us who know Alex. It makes me wonder what kind of boy and man Cade will be when he grows up. Here are the pics, enjoy.


Cade's amazement at pigeons and the crappy (literally) fish gutting station on the pier.

Like uncle, like nephew. Or something like that.

I was also quasi-teary on Cade's first day at the beach. He was kind of hesitant feeling the sand on his bare feet, but as soon as the water hit his toes he was running into the waves. We were cracking up, Stunt Man Cade at it again! He kept doing his sign for "more" and pointing to the water and saying "dat-dat-dat-dat" ("that-that-that-that"). So much for the thought that we would just walk along the beach to acclimate him to the new scene. Crazy kid. Gotta love my beach boy!

He definitely impressed Alex and seemed to fall back in love with his uncle the last few days. Thanks Uncle Al, for making the trip down! Miss you already!

-little buddy