Cruisin'

This is Micah's 11th month chair picture. He kept trying to look over the front end of the chair, and, for fear of him toppling over, I could only take a couple of shots.  

And, Micah is OFFICIALLY "Cruising"!  The only way I could lure him across the length of the couch was to use my cell phone as bait...whatever works, right?!

This was the last shot before I had to put the camera down and take him off of the chair...that look in his eyes explains it all...

Mmmma-mmmma!

After two weeks of waiting to hear "Mama" again, Micah has begun to say it on a regular basis! Well, it actually sounds more like, "Mmmmmma-mmmmmma".  (He likes to hang on to the "M" for a long time!)  And, no, I don't necessarily believe that he knows who "Da-da" or "Ma-ma" are, but I'll take whatever I can get!

11 Months Old!

Micah is 11 months old!!! I know people say it all of the time, but time really does fly!  Within the past month, Micah is crawling (on one knee), pulling up, learning how to drink from a cup, and he FINALLY cut his first tooth!  (He likes to teethe on a cold baby carrot.) He is highly fascinated with the remote controller, the camera, our cell phones, and my laptop.  And, I heard him say "Ma-ma" once about a week ago, but I haven't heard it since then...so, the wait continues!

Micah's got rhythm, too!  (I think it's safe to say that he got this from his Mommy!)  His Learn & Discover driving toy has a "radio" that plays 3 songs. There is one song, in particular, that has become his favorite.  He presses the button for his favorite song to play and he bounces up and down to the beat. When the song stops playing, he presses the button again and realizes it's not the same song.  He quickly presses the button again and finds that it, too, is playing the wrong tune. Finally, he presses the button for a third time, and the bouncing resumes to the beat of his favorite song, which happens to be the Alphabet Song.  

Micah has hit the stranger anxiety phase...Santa freaked him out!!! I had to sit next to Santa and hold Micah's hand for him to stop crying long enough to take the picture.  He also likes to test his limits to see "how-many-times-mommy-&-daddy-will-pick-up-whatever-I-drop-on-the-floor".  If I hand him something, he immediately tosses it to the floor (ON PURPOSE) and looks at me like, "What are you gonna do about it?" 90% of the time, he doesn't get it back and cries in disappointment. It always makes me laugh, but isn't it so amazing to see how smart babies are?

Micah also gets a kick out of mimicking various sounds that we make, and this game can go on it seems like forever! Lastly, he has a new funny expression that we like to call "The Stanky Face", which made him the Thanksgiving dinner entertainment (see picture below!)

Here are some pictures that we took last weekend for his 11th month photos:

Micah & Daddy

Micah & Mommy

The "Stanky" Face!

Yay! Micah finally cut a tooth!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Micah celebrated his first Thanksgiving with both sets of grandparents here in Birmingham.  He sampled a little bit of everything and seemed to like it.  I gave him very very tiny bits of turkey and he would chew for awhile, and then open his mouth for more.  (Note: Micah doesn't have ANY teeth yet!)  It wasn't until about the fifth bite that I realized that he was hoarding all of the turkey in his mouth! Micah is still very wary about the texture of his food. Needless-to-say, I removed all of the turkey and tried again.  He finally swallowed the turkey the second time around.  With a full tummy and nearing the end of dinner, Micah was ready for a nap (below)!

The Little Red Lobster

The Little Red Lobster

Micah was a LOBSTER for Halloween! 

No, we didn't go trick-or-treating this year, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get Micah his first Halloween costume!

10 Months Old

Micah has just begun his 11th month! It seems as if he's doing something new everyday! Right now, his favorite things to do are:

1. Clapping his hands

2. Waving "Bye-Bye"

3. Saying "Milk" in sign language

4. Banging anything he can find on the floor

5. Shaking his head from side-to-side 

6. Bouncing his head and body up and down

7. Rolling like a speeding bullet across the floor

8. Spinning on his behind in circles

He finally began saying "da-da" within the past 2 weeks--(and you know that Daddy is so thrilled with this new accomplishment!) The pictures in the chair are his 10 month photos.  I must admit that I now have a new appreciation for the patience of professional photographers at portrait studios...

Take 1: 

Take 2:

Take 3:

Take 4:

...And the picture at the top of the page is Take 5...

Baby Dedication (Studio Photos)

GAP Casting Call

I entered Micah in the GAP Casting Call. If you'd like to vote for him, you can go to: 

www.family.go.com/gapcastingcall 

Enter "micahcaden" in the search box 

You can vote every 24 hours. On Dec. 7th, they'll announce the Top 20 contestants (chosen by a select panel of judges) and then the voting continues until some time in January. The winners (4 out of each category) will be announced in February 2010.

Go Micah! 

Micah's Favorite Things!

I thought I'd share a few of Micah's favorite things!

1. Fresh Pureed Peaches: He'll eat these for breakfast, lunch, & dinner! To make sure that he eats his veggies, I'll blend them with some peaches...Green Beans avec Peaches, anyone?

2. VTech Learn & Discover Driver: This has recently become one of Micah's favorite toys.  He especially loves to press the radio button and pull back and forth on the brake. (Unfortunately, it does not have a volume control.)

3. Evenflo Exersaucer: This keeps Micah busy in the morning while I'm getting ready for work. You should see him zip around...(and around, and around...)

4. LeapFrog Learn & Groove Alphabet Drum: This is Micah's newest toy. When you hit the drum, it says the letters of the alphabet in English or Spanish. Micah hits it so fast, all you can hear is "A--(bam! bam! bam! bam! bam!)--G--(bam! bam! bam! bam! bam!)--M...etc"

5. Baby Einstein Count & Compose Piano: This was one of Micah's first toys that he used once he could sit up. Unfortunately, he would get tired of sitting up and would fall forward onto the piano...head first...

6. Nuby Icy Bite Teether Keys: I really don't take the time to chill these in the refrigerator, but he loves them just the same. These used to keep Micah busy during church...now, he just likes to toss them to see where they land...

Micah's Baby Dedication

Micah is 9 months old!  His 9 month check-up was a little over a week ago, and he is steadily moving along on his growth curve in height (28.5") and weight (17 lb 6.5 0z.) 

Micah's mode of transportation is not by means of crawling.  No, he likes to scoot on his behind...backwards and mostly in circles!

As far as food is concerned, Micah prefers fruits over vegetables (...I wonder where he got that from...DAD!)  When I put the spoon up to Micah's mouth, he purses his lips shut and SNIFFS the food.  If he likes what he smells, he opens his mouth to take a bite...if not, he turns up his nose and pushes the spoon away with his hand.  And, his choice of beverage is milk rather than juice.

Lastly, but certainly not least, Micah was dedicated at church last weekend. His Grandparents, Nina, and a very special friend were in attendance!

8 Months Old!

8 Months Old!

Well, we're actually nearing the end of 8 months.  Micah is a happy and mostly laid back baby. His smiles and laughter light up our days. 

The picture above is Micah in his chair at 8 months. It was my intention to take a picture each month, but due to our recent move, I, unfortunately, missed several months. As I was trying to take his picture, he realized that, "...hey, this thing moves!" So, he started rocking back and forth once he figured out that he could make the chair move on his own. Then, he wanted to look over the side of the arm of the chair...then up at the fan... Needless-to-say, after about 10 pictures, I finally got a good one of him looking at the camera.

I have chosen to prepare all of Micah's food. Each week, Micah  is introduced to a new fruit, vegetable, spice, and/or recipe.  It's actually really easy---all you need is a blender! Most recently, Micah has tasted whole grain mac and cheese, chicken, and turkey dishes. He is quite the picky eater, although, this isn't too hard to believe when you consider who his parents are!

I included a picture of Micah in his Exersaucer.  Most days, he plays in the Exersaucer while I am getting ready for work. This particular morning, I noticed that Micah was unusually quiet, so I peeked around the corner and found that he had dozed off in mid-play!

We took a trip to Mobile in mid-August to see Grandma & Grandpa.  The Exersaucer traveled with us---speaking of traveling with Micah and ALL of his stuff...my little car leaves little room for anything other than Micah's belongings! While we were down there, Grandma gave Micah an impromptu piano lesson.

The other two photos are just random pictures from my cell phone. The first one is of Micah & me taking a nap, and the second photo is one of Micah's "Good Morning!" smiles!

Knocked out on the Exersaucer!

Piano lesson with Grandma

 Naptime

"Good Morning!"

July 2009

7 Months Old!

Happy 4th of July!

Micah had his 6 month appointment and weighed in at 16 pounds! 

He took his 2nd airline trip in July to visit his Aunt & Uncle in Houston, Texas!  Micah was definitely more "talkative" during this flight, to the point where I think it was annoying the gentleman next to us, but...what can you do?! 

Big news!!! Micah took his first dip in the pool! His Aunt & Uncle bought him the cutest infant float suit ever! I wasn't quite sure how he would react to the water, but he LOVED it! In fact, he was so relaxed that he started to doze off.  Of course, he dressed the part in Old Navy swimwear, along with Daddy's hat. He also had some matching flip flops that Uncle K bought probably this time LAST year! 

Unfortunately, at the end of the month, the "daycare sniffles & cough" turned into something much worse! One Saturday afternoon while we were out and about, Micah spiked a fever of 103 out of nowhere! The on-call nurse instructed us to give him Tylenol and call back in the morning if it didn't get better. The following day, we took Micah to the Children's After Hours Clinic, and the doctor said that, "Despite the 102 degree temperature, it's just a cold, Mom." Luckily, Micah's Aunt in Houston is a pediatrician and she suggested that we make an appointment to see his regular pediatrician the next morning.  So, on Monday morning, after several tests and a chest x-ray, lo and behold...Micah had PNEUMONIA! Needless-to-say, Micah was out of daycare for most of that week.  Getting Micah to take the antibiotic was a battle every time! I must admit, it smelled horrible! Can you blame him?! Luckily, he was back to himself within a couple of days!

In other news, Micah was learning how to sit up, but couldn't quite do it by himself yet...

...and, he was still awaking around 2am each morning--eager for a late night snack...the snack bar is about to close!!!

Taking a dip in the pool!

Sitting up! ...well, sort of...

June 2009

6 Months Old!

June was a big month for Micah! He tried rice cereal for the first time! The best way to describe his expression after his first taste of rice cereal was...shock. (See the picture above!)

Grandma Anne & Grandpa Steve visited in June shortly after we moved into our new home. Grandpa assembled Micah's Exersaucer which has become one of his favorite toys! He still plays in it most mornings while I'm getting ready for work.

Each evening after daycare, we make sure Micah gets some tummy time...apparently, he's been wearing himself out at daycare because he keeps falling asleep on his tummy!

Drum roll, please...he FINALLY slept through the night!!! ...well, only for 2 nights, that is...

And, forget about an alarm clock these days, Micah is sure to wake us up with high pitched shrills, coos, and giggles!

Swing Time!

Playing his first piano masterpiece!

Our little alarm clock

Wiped Out!!!

Micah's favorite activity...the EXERSAUCER!