Baby Gronseth

Halloween and fall fun

2009-11-11T21:00:00.004-06:00

On Halloween Cade was a pumpkin for the second year in a row. We were fortunate that the costume my mom got him last year was good up through 24 months. He wasn't real keen on the hat, but he wore it long enough for us to go trick-or-treating at our friend Carla's house and long enough to get a couple of pictures.
Later that night we went out to a party on a farm across the river in Indiana. My friend Chris, who I used to work with in Rockport, invited us to a large family party complete with turtle soup and a real headless horseman. It was a great time. Cade wasn't the least bit spooked by the headless horseman; in fact, he loved getting to pet the horse on the nose.
This last weekend we had some beautiful weather in the 60s and 70s. We spent a lot of Saturday afternoon doing stuff out in the yard. A while back Chris also gave us a tricycle they had laying around. It's in great shape and we've been waiting for a chance to break it out. Cade's feet don't quite reach the pedals enough to pedal yet, but he definitely likes to be pushed around on it.
I think this shirt is another one that I wore as a little kid. Looks pretty good on Cade! I raked some leaves into a pile and he liked playing in the leaves with Chili.
While we were outside I took the opportunity with the great weather to wash and clean both of our automobiles. I was in the garage vacuuming out the truck and Cade came walking in and wanted to help. He did a very good job on the floor mats.

Saturday morning we had some family photos taken out at a park by a good friend Meagan. We look forward to sharing some of those photos with you all when we get them back. She's a very talented photographer, so we can't wait to see them. Thanks for stopping by! See you next time.

What I've learned from running

2009-11-02T23:30:00.003-06:00

Here's part two of tonight's double feature:

Susie and I take a good hard look at our family budget at the end of each year as we look toward how we can best use our resources during the following year. At the start of 2009 we decided to quit our health club for a few reasons: we anticipated being out of town more in 2009 which rendered our membership useless, the club had gone severely downhill in maintenance and cleanliness, Cade presented the need for childcare if we were going to work out together, and we figured we could save a little money.

Without a designated place to exercise, I began to run. I have never liked running, but I figured it would be the easiest way to burn calories. Running is free, and I can run wherever I travel and in all seasons. Also, my health seems to go downhill easily when I carry a few extra pounds around. My nose was broken when I was in 6th grade (another story for another day) and I seem to be susceptible to upper respiratory problems if I’m not careful. But most importantly, I was feeling the need to set a good example for Cade in fitness and health. It’s amazing to see how much of our actions and words he’s already picking up on. My dad has been a picture of consistency in exercise for me, and I want to be that same picture for Cade.

Despite my loathing to run, I had found it to be the best way for me to lose unwanted pounds and stay in shape. The runs were purposely kept short at the outset, partially because it was still cold outside, and partially because we had started to train for a half marathon when we lived in Houston and my knees started breaking down due to overtraining. By very slowly ramping up my miles each week I could hopefully avoid injury.

Near the end of March I was sort of getting into a routine so I set my first goal. I was at 235 pounds and I wanted to get down to 210 by the time Cade turned one at the end of June. I don’t know why I picked 210, but I needed a hard number in front of me instead of a nebulous goal. To reach this goal I estimated that I needed to run at least 2 out of every 3 days. I made a spreadsheet to track my progress and Susie made fun of me because I’m a big dork.

I made my goal of 210 a couple weeks before Cade’s birthday and I found another goal. I let my buddy Jared talk me into doing a half marathon in October. Now I had a training schedule and a much bigger goal than merely weight. As I ran throughout the summer, something funny happened: I started leaving my iPod at home and started really enjoying my runs. If I missed a day I started missing it. As soon as my last run was done I’d start mentally preparing for the next one, especially if it was going to be a long one. As I mentioned in a previous post, the half marathon was a big success for me and so I wanted to write a post about what I learned while training for and competing in this race. Here we go:

· You can do a lot more than you initially think you can. I figured I could train up to running 13.1 miles, but it really was a daunting prospect. If my schedule called for a distance that I’d not previously run I’d have to mentally prepare to run it. So the first time I ran 8 miles, and then 9 miles, and so on was kind of intimidating because it was a step into the unknown. I ran 13 miles a few weeks before the race just so I had a mental edge of having done it before the race. But this goes far past running. It really applies to any aspect of life. We didn’t realize how little sleep we could actually function on until we were pressed to do it when Cade couldn’t go more than an hour or two without eating at the beginning. I didn’t realize how incredibly full of grace and love Susie was until I watched her interact with our son. Pushing boundaries is essential to becoming a better person.

· The things you appreciate the most don’t come overnight. 2009 has provided me with two opportunities to practice patience towards a goal. The first was losing weight and preparing for the race. I mentally had to expect to lose the weight over a period of time, not overnight. This long-term approach allowed me to trust my training and my eating habits and when it was all said and done I exceeded my goal. As I lost weight and gained conditioning, my pacing got incrementally faster, which encouraged me to stick with it even more. When your goals reference a point in the future you don’t get distraught over small temporary setbacks and you don’t get impatient with slower progress as long as it’s steady and marked. Secondly, I’d never read straight through the Bible. So Susie and I have been part of a Facebook group designed to get us through the Bible in a year. The Bible is a large book, but staying on pace with the group has kept us on track, and I believe we’ve become closer as a couple as we spend time in spiritual discussions that challenge our minds regarding what we’ve read. I’m not going read the Bible in one sitting, and I’m not going to lose 25 pounds overnight, but slow and steady progress makes the end result worthwhile, which brings me to my next point, which is:

· The end is not necessarily the end. I’ve referenced Don Miller in this blog before, and something he said in his talk a few weeks back has been working around in my mind. In his talk and his latest book, he uses the analogy of story for how to live fulfilling, meaningful lives. Every important aspect of story, such as a protagonist that desires something, conflict, and sacrifice all play a part in a compelling story. We would be wise to consider these elements and how they are involved in our lives. But there is one element of story that we are not meant to experience in this life, and that is the climax and the big finish. Companies sell us goods under the proposition that their good will lead to a fulfilled life. But what good ever has? Even Christian spiritualism has become consumer-centric, promising in many cases that Jesus will solve all your problems. This is not Biblical, but it’s preached ad nauseum. I don’t know anyone, Christian or not, that has reached the point in their lives where all conflict is gone. Even Paul in Romans 8 talks about how creation groans as in the pains of childbirth and how we eagerly await a future glory with hope despite our current sufferings. Not exactly a pitch you can use on a late night infomercial. This point was brought to mind as I watched "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" yesterday. I’d never seen the show before, but we watched because it was the episode that was filmed in Owensboro back in September. Throughout the show I kept hearing lines like “Our troubles are over,” “We don’t have to worry about anything now,” and “This new house will fix our problems.” The show was sweet and sappy, but unlike a fictional movie where the credits roll and all is happily ever after, when the credits rolled on this show the dad in the family still had health issues and treatments and still couldn’t work. The mom still had to be the breadwinner and care for her husband. Not even a new house and car in place of their trailer and clunker could completely fix and fulfill their lives. Not to sound like a downer, but this is the world we live in. That’s why, in order to continue to live fulfilling lives we have to continually push ourselves with loftier and loftier goals and never rest on what we’ve accomplished. I’ll have to admit when I first signed up for the half I had these lofty visions of ripped abs and laurels and glory as I crossed the finish line. I still have love handles. I can still get faster. There were nearly 400 people that finished ahead of me (and this was a small race compared to other half marathons). After the high of finishing with a good time wore off I was mentally searching for the next thing, because there is never fulfillment (read Ecclesiastes for extra food for thought). So as I type I’m currently pondering my next race in order to push myself again and train to beat my time. And now we’ll head back to less of a philosophical realm:

· When you run you automatically have millions, and probably billions of partners out there. The camaraderie is great. I like waving to other runners as we pass on the street or trail. I like to see other runners running when I’m driving around doing errands. It makes me want to run. There have been a few times where my path will allow me to run for a few blocks or more with a complete stranger, but we always seem to have a good time talking until our paths separate. While training I often did my long weekend runs with Jared, Jason, and Robert. One time I ran with Susie. Last weekend I ran with my uncle. Sometimes my pace is pushed, sometimes it lags more than normal, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s time to spend together and talk and experience the run together.

· Running provides good views. A city looks completely different running than it does when you drive through it. The slower pace allows you to soak in the surroundings more. I like this, especially when traveling. One place in particular I recall was when I was up at Purdue University doing some recruiting for my company. I parked at a park in Lafayette and ran down to the river and across into West Lafayette. My run took me up into campus and I ran around for a while before heading back. I noticed houses and buildings and people that I’d have never appreciated if I had just driven over to campus the next day for the interviews. It even let me scout out some interesting looking places to eat.

· The right equipment makes all the difference. I used to make fun of people who wore running clothes when they ran. Then Susie got me a couple running shirts and some running shorts. Man, did I feel light as a feather. Then my parents took me to a running store to be custom fit for some shoes based on my foot and gait. I bet the right equipment shaved 10 seconds off my mile pace right there. Susie also got me a GPS watch for my birthday that allows me to regulate my pace and train more effectively. The right equipment makes all the difference.

· People are generally very polite. I’ve noticed this as I’ve run along streets and encountered cars. Despite running somewhere between 600 and 700 miles this year (most of them on roads/sidewalks), I can only think of one time where I feel like a driver intentionally cut me off. For the most part people are very eager to yield to a runner. It’s made me more conscious of runners when I am driving.

· You can generally tell whether the people in each house use the sidewalks or not. If the trees and limbs obstruct the sidewalk, there’s a good chance the people in the house don’t take walks or they’d realize how bad it is. On the other hand, you can tell when people do utilize the sidewalks because the sidewalks in front of their houses are well trimmed.

· You can’t judge a runner by what he or she looks like. This is probably a “duh” point, but as people we spend so much time sizing others up based on their appearance. There have been plenty of times I’ve been smoked by someone at a race that initially looked too short or too fat or too unathletic. You’d be amazed at how goofy some people look while they’re passing me. This is like that whole idiom about a book and something about its cover, but it’s true.

So that’s probably more than you were interested in, and major kudos for still reading. I figured I could sneak this in if it came as a double feature. Thanks for continuing to frequent this inconsistent blog about my son.

Minnesota Trip

2009-11-02T22:55:00.004-06:00

Tonight is a double feature: Two posts at the same time! Here are a few pictures from our Minnesota trip:

Cade is still a great traveler. It was pretty cool to see him start to understand what was going on. He loved looking out the window, both on the ground and in the air. He quickly learned the word "airplane," and he enjoyed saying "bye" to planes as they took off. When we'd ask him where each plane was going he'd put his palms up to say "I don't know." We got to see my cousin (at some level, our dads are cousins, so you figure it out) Kyle, his wife Jenny, and their three-month-old daughter Kayla. Kayla was a cutie, she just wasn't up for a picture at this point. Kyle picked us up at the airport and they let us borrow a pack and play and a high chair for the weekend: very important items to not have to carry on board!
My Aunt Renee and Uncle Dave were so hospitable and opened their house to a whole crew of family. They have a bunny named Ginger, and I think Cade fell in love. He got to feed Ginger beans and got a kick out of how soft her fur was.
Susie and my parents took Cade to the Mall of America (I stayed home). :) Cade got to ride on the balloon ride and apparently giggled and laughed the entire time.

Cade spent some time outside in the leaves. He's not a big hat wearer, but he liked his little red cap we found for a buck at the recycled baby item store.

My cousin Julia got some big slippers at the mall and Cade got to try them on. Looks like they fit just right!

The reason we all went up to Minneapolis was to go to this church. It's now called Faith Free Lutheran Church, but it started as Rosedale Lutheran Church. We attended the 100th anniversary of the church. Why this church? My great grandfather was the pastor of this church for 49 years, from 1921 to 1970 when he died. Because I never got to meet him, it was very interesting for me to see his church and hear about him from some of the members. He was a very hard worker and cared for the people at his church. There were many pictures of him, and I found a couple record books where he kept church records with a fountain pen. When he started as pastor he made less than $1,000 each year. The parsonage connected to the rear of the church was where my dad lived the first year or so of his life. I know it was a big deal for my dad and his sisters to come back and see the church and the parsonage and relive old memories. It was kind of a chance for me to get to know him.

Here's a picture of me and Cade with my Aunt Joyce and my dad's Aunt Joyce.

Four generations!

After the service the current church members cooked a huge meal for everyone that came. Delicious!

Here's a picture of the whole Gronseth clan that attended. It was great to reconnect with family that we hadn't seen in quite some time.

Picture Update

2009-10-19T20:48:00.007-05:00

Well, here's the photo update I promised a while back. The school work has calmed down (at least for a week or two) and Cade is down for the evening. Enjoy the pictures!

We start way back with our trip to Colorado at the start of September. Once again Cade was a great traveler (with a minor exception, which I'll describe right now). On the way out we had settled into our seats and the plane was just about to take off when Susie, who was holding Cade, looked at me with a look of trepidation and said those fateful words, "Cade's pooping." We asked the flight attendant if we could change him and were informed that everyone needed to remain in their seats or we'd lose our place in line for takeoff. Uh oh. As if it couldn't get worse, Susie looked at me again and said, "His diaper is leaking." We had some plastic that we put between Cade's booty and Susie's lap and held on hoping for the best. During takeoff Cade miraculously fell asleep so the diaper change was put off for another hour. (We aren't always super smart, but we have learned to not wake him up unless absolutely necessary.) When Cade woke up Daddy was spared by the fact that airplane bathrooms now measure approximately 18" x 20" including toilet, so Susie made the impossible possible and changed Cade at 30,000 feet. Just before landing Susie looked at me again and said, "I'd better go change him again." Wow. Some days we don't get one set of poopy pants and he just decided it would be fun to drop two deuces in one plane trip. I know he's more aware of what's going than we fully comprehend. But overall he really was an excellent plane rider, so we let him off easy. :)

Once we got to Colorado Springs we spent some time out at the park with some ducks and geese. It was pretty windy.We also stopped at Petsmart to see the rescue dogs and cats for adoption. It's so sad to see these animals that have been abused and abandoned. Just hearing their stories makes you want to take them all home. Cade loves to hang out with the animals. I hope he doesn't have a bad experience with a dog at some point because he just makes a beeline for any canine at every opportunity at this point. His love is usually returned many times over.

An interesting fact about our family: my mom and I share a birthday on September 11th and my dad's birthday is on September 12th. That was part of the reason we chose that weekend to visit. It was my 30th, so we had a good time celebrating birthdays. It's kind of like a mini-Christmas, but slightly better because we include an ice cream cake. The other reason we chose that weekend is because my mom and sister head up to the mountains to ride horses with some other ladies and Susie has been able to go with them a few times now. So she took off with the ladies and we had a guys' weekend back at the house in Monument. We got to watch football, play a lot, and do other things we won't tell the ladies about, right Cade? :) Here's a picture of Cade trying to contain his excitement right after Uncle Paul filled him in on just exactly what does happen on guys' weekends.
I found a pair of mittens that I wore when I was a little guy. Cade thought they were the coolest and wanted to wear them for a while.
My dad's glasses were just blowing Cade's mind. He would look at Grandpa straight in the eye and then would slide his head around to look at his eyes from the side view as seen in this picture. This entertained Cade (and us) for quite some time.

Here's part of the ladies' crew up at Lost Valley Ranch.

After the weekend we left Cade in Colorado with Nana and Grandpa for a week away. It was extremely helpful for us because that was the week Susie needed to use to prepare for her dossier review. So it was great for Cade, Nana, and Grandpa in Colorado, and it was time well utilized by Susie in preparation for that Friday. Susie did very well in her review, so it was worth the time away. We sure missed him though. It just felt weird not having him around with both of us together. Here's a picture of Cade after a bath. Nana has the coolest doggie towel that he gets wrapped up in after bath time. You can see his head goes in the dog head so the big black nose is on Cade's forehead and the big brown ears flop down the sides of his head. You can't tell by this picture, but the corners are four big paws that hug him to dry him.

As a doggie lover, Cade enjoyed getting to hang out with Maggie. He just can't hide his excitement at the opportunity to give Maggie a treat.

My Aunt Deb (my mom's sister) and Uncle Bill are building a house not far away from my parents' house. It will be great to have them around more often when we're in Colorado. Cade and Bill hit it off great.

Cade enjoyed playing out in the backyard with Nana and Grandpa. He really liked chilling in the hammock.

When my mom flew back with Cade she spent the day in Bloomington with us. Her flight went out of Indianapolis so we went up to the Indy Zoo. Cade absolutely loved seeing the different animals. The first thing we saw were sea lions and he immediately said "doggie!" which is understandable given their dog-like faces and his strong affinity for pooches. He correctly identified the bears as well. This zoo has an underwater dolphin viewing tank, and Cade got a kick out of watching the dolphins swim around us.

Susie and I went to see Ben Folds in at the IU Auditorium with one of her housemates, Craig. Ben Folds is one of the most talented musicians I've had the pleasure of seeing live and also one of the best showmen. We were fortunate enough to have third row seats! It was just him and his piano; it's just incredible how much sound he gets from one instrument. If you haven't seen him live and you enjoy his music, I'd recommend you take any opportunity you get to see him. This was my fourth time seeing him. Each time the arrangement has been different (we once saw him with the Louisville Orchestra) and each time has been unbelievable.

The weather has been great lately, so we've taken the chance to go to the park and play a number of times. Cade LOVES to swing, but that doesn't even compare to his love of sliding. Here are a couple pictures of pure joy.

Last week I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite authors, Don Miller, speak in Evansville. It was a great night listening to him as well as Susan Isaacs, and I even got to chat with him for a few minutes afterwards. If you haven't read anything by Don, I'd recommend picking up any of his books. They are all outstanding. He's very humble, is very wise, and is a master of conveying ideas and breaking theological ideas down into palatable information. He's one of those writers that makes you feel like you know them well after reading their work. His books have helped me make sense of some of the random thoughts about life floating around my head.

Last Saturday was the event that my friend Jared and I had been training for for quite a while. We ran a half marathon in Indianapolis; it was my first and Jared's second. I beat my goal time by about five minutes and Jared improved on the time from his last half marathon. The course went through a state park and the trees were beautiful in their fall colors. It was 34 degrees at the start, but once we got going the cool weather was energizing. It was a great experience for my first one. I'm looking forward to doing another one in the spring.

When I got back to Bloomington Cade wanted to wear my finisher's medal (Daddy's nowhere near fast enough to actually WIN a medal, but we won't tell Cade that yet). He looks very proud of himself.

Chili's really been coming around with Cade. He seems to really like him now, and doesn't mind Cade crawling all over him as much. Cade thinks Chili's soft fur is the coolest and loves to cuddle with him.

Do you think it might be time for another haircut?

As I write this I'm listening to the internet broadcast of the Broncos' Monday night matchup with the Chargers. The Broncos just scored to go up 27-23: great game so far; hope they can hold the lead! We don't have a TV up here in Bloomington, so I'm glad I can get the game on KOA's website. Cade wore a super stylish shirt today for game day. This is a shirt I had as a little guy. Amazing how some things just never go out of fashion.

Walking

2009-10-07T21:20:00.002-05:00

I should be putting together a marketing plan for school, but this is a chance to procrastinate. I've been talking about Cade walking for a little while, and now I present proof to you. He's really become much more balanced, coordinated, and quick on his feet in the last few weeks. We now have to be much more wary of where he is and what he's getting into. Did I mention he keeps getting more and more fun?

So here's a short video I put together. I haven't tried my hand too much at video editing and was surprised how easy it was to string together clips and add a soundtrack in the background. Many thanks to my friends in WILCO for writing an appropriate song for the occasion. :)

I Can Has Dirty Diaper

2009-10-05T13:31:00.005-05:00

Many props to Uncle Paul and his creation a la loldogs and lolcats. I've been dormant lately with excuses ranging from a trip to Colorado to school (big paper due this Monday!) to being away from home for a couple weeks without the cable thingy that goes from the camera to the computer. A new post is coming soon with lots of pictures from our Colorado trip and other fun things. And after that I'll try to finish up my first video ever created and edited on my own in tribute to Cade walking. That will be posted soon as well (I hope!).

Chili's starting to like this kid

2009-09-07T22:33:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post to get this video up that I took this morning here in B-town. Apparently Chili was looking a little underfed.

I don't think I could do it (and other random heart-related thoughts)

2009-08-28T20:10:00.005-05:00

Cade is sick. He's more sick than I remember ever seeing him, barring the initial hostipal treatments during his first few days of life. Two events in the last 24 hours have triggered a few deep thoughts in my head and strong feelings in my heart. The first happened last night when we discovered he wasn't feeling great. Susie and I were heading to bed around 10:30. Cade was in bed early because he was cutting a new molar and that had him feeling crummy all day. We heard him crying and decided to go check on him. Sometimes we'll let him cry and put himself back to sleep, but this time we investigated. When we walked in he was standing up and crying in his crib, squinting in the light, himself and his crib completely covered in the food he'd eaten yesterday. It was the most pitiful sight, and my heart broke for him. Susie took him right into the bath and I worked on his clothe, room, and bed. He ended up throwing up twice more throughout the night. Susie and her mom took Cade to the doctor this morning and we found out he has a virus. Really all we can do is try to make him comfortable and manage his fever until it passes. He's been in a poor state during the day and evening.

The second event was just earlier this evening. Susie and her mom went to a church function a while ago and Cade had finally gone to sleep right before they left. Only a few minutes after they had left I heard him crying. All day today it seemed like he just couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep well so he tossed and turned a lot. I went in and stood by his crib and rubbed his back, but when I thought he was asleep and turned to leave he would start crying right when I got out the door. This happened a few times so I ultimately took him and held him for about a half hour as he worked his way back to sleep on my chest. It was a sweet time to be with him and to just console him as he just kind of moaned and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. Susie said earlier today that in some ways she doesn't mind him being sick because he's so dependent on her and just longs for her to hold him and it's a real feeling of connection. I can identify with that, but at the same time it just pains me to see him as uncomfortable as he is. I spent that time praying for him to feel better and for him in general. Finally he drifted off enough that I could put him back in his crib. So far so good (knock knock).

Those two images, of Cade standing and crying in his crib covered in vomit, and of his sick little face curled up on my chest contorting and straining against his virus in an effort to get some rest have burned themselves into my mind. I hate seeing him less than the vibrant, fun bundle of life we're used to. The thought that kept entering my mind as I rocked him back to sleep was, "Dear God, how did you ever allow your only son to be tortured and killed? I don't think I could do it. I don't have enough love and grace in me."

And see, there's the rub. As much as Susie or I love Cade, that love pales in comparison to God's love for me and for every person that's ever been conceived on this planet. He's the only one capable of that kind of love. I firmly believe the most unselfish thing a perfect being could do is to create other beings for the sole purpose of enjoying himself. And even more incredibly, He didn't force his love and any kind of obedience on us. Forced obedience creates a resentment or no feeling at all. So He allows us to make the choice to cut the ties and reject Him. And we do. Everyday. We're people that want to know how far we can stretch a rule. How fast can I go over the speed limit without getting a ticket (FYI: in Owensboro it's less than 6 over)? How much can I slack off before my A drops to a B or my B drops to a C? How mediocre can I allow my work to be before it gets noticed for the crap that it is? How little time can I spend with God and how little can I mention Him in conversation and how little can I care about the people around me without giving up my status as a "good Christian guy?" But it's not about rules. It's about our hearts.

I'd like to share a story I read a few days ago that I really liked. I've read it a few times since I first came across it. I love the ending. It's about a king that decided his people had been rebellious for too long. When he became king, he made it a priority to repair and re-consecrate the temple in Jerusalem and re-consecrate the priests of the land so they could worship the God that had delivered them over and over. He wanted to do it right. He wanted to celebrate the most important festival of thanks to God as a nation for the first time in a long time, but enough priests had not been consecrated and the people had not been assembled in time. The Passover was normally celebrated in the first month of the year, but instead they chose to celebrate it in the second month just this one time because it was a priority to return to their traditions of honoring God and remembering what he had done for them. Historically, this was a no-no. Additionally, many of the people who had come from a distance to celebrate had not ceremonially purified themselves so they were actually celebrating the festival in direct opposition to God's law. But here's what happened: "(The king) prayed for them, saying, 'May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone who sets their heart on seeking God - the Lord, the God of their ancestors - even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.' And the Lord heard (the king) and healed the people." (2 Chronicles 29-30)

I love that story. I love it because we get so wrapped up in focusing on the rules and the lists of things we can and cannot do. We hold so tighly to the taboos and boundaries we've set up in our minds, we don't take the time to examine our hearts, and our hearts go astray. But our hearts are what matter to God. My heart longs for my son to feel good and be happy. God's heart longs for me to be close to him and to care about others. He longs for my heart so much that he watched his son endure the worst pain any person has ever endured because without his blood my shortcomings would separate me from God. He allowed his son to be tortured and killed because he longs for the hearts of so many that choose to completely disregard him. Because His love and grace are enough to overcome anything I can do in rebellion to Him, I have the freedom to love my son. So I stand amazed at my God yet again and thank him for his limitless love, his unending forgiveness, and the grace to allow me to have a son if only for the ability to further appreciate the sacrifice he made in giving up his own for me.

More Walking

2009-08-26T19:39:00.004-05:00

Cade has been doing more and more walking. Just this evening he walked from the middle of a room at IU to the doorway. We were talking with some of Susie's classmates, so it kind of went unnoticed until we realized what he had just done.

My aunt Joyce sent Cade a shopping cart for his birthday. Her son David had one when he was a baby and apparently it was a big time favorite toy. Up until about a week ago Cade wasn't stable enough on his feet to really enjoy it, but now that he's more mobile he loves to push it around with his toys in it. So big thanks goes out to Joyce and her experience with little boys. :) Cade's putting a lot of miles on those shopping cart wheels. He's not very good at turning yet, so sometimes he'll get stuck when he runs into a wall or something else. We're looking forward to seeing Joyce and a lot of the extended Gronseth family in October.

I also got a video of Cade pushing another walker around. He still prefers crawling since it's faster, but he's sure coming along with the walking.

And here's the video of the shopping cart.

Cade's vocabulary is also growing pretty quickly. He's learned "hi" and "bye," which make any occasion more fun. And he's definitely partial to the letter "Z." We read him the Dr. Seuss ABC's book quite often (sometimes 5-10 times a day). He loves it. He'll pick it up and bring it to us and say, "B!" We think "B" either means "ABC" or "read," we're not sure yet. But when we get to the end we'll say the whole alphabet and he'll finish with an emphatic "Z!" It still kinda sounds like "TSE," but we're giving him the benefit of the doubt. It's his favorite letter. He even loves the rhyme that goes with Z in the book: "Big Z, little z, what begins with Z?" (Turn the page to a picture of a goofy Seussian fuzzy patchwork dragon.) "I do! I am a zizzer-zazzer-zuzz as you can plainly see!" Which is followed by Cade cackling and turning the book back to the beginning. Every time.

First Haircut!

2009-08-19T17:06:00.007-05:00

Cade is hilarious. Can I just say that before we get started today? He constantly comes up with new things that are at the same time funny and amazing because you can tell he's coming to grips with the world around him. Like the other night Susie was telling me about how when he was in the bath he was standing up and apparently nature was calling. So while standing there he just started peeing. She said he looked down at what was going on and just started cracking up at himself. You know he knows he eliminates waste because he gets cranky if his diaper isn't changed for a long time. So he knows occasionally it gets wet and/or lumpy in his diaper, but I wonder if he really puts it all together. I know when he does that will make potty training a lot easier. (Side note: last night I learned that Susie was trained at 15 months which blows my mind. That's exciting to me because it means we might be closer to no more diaper changes, but it kinda scares me too because it means we'll have to deal with the "accidents" that come with training. I'm sure they don't always happen at convenient times.) But back to the tub, I guess he just saw the play unfolding before him and decided that it was pretty funny.

Another funny/neuron-connection thing happened at bath time last night. Susie thought Cade's hair was very cute and wanted to take a few pictures. It was at that point we realized Cade can anticipate the camera's flash. Our camera does what a lot of cameras do now: it blinks an orange light a second or two before the picture is taken. Well, Cade's figured out the sequence and doesn't like the flash in his eyes. So the result is what you see below. There were many more "in betweeners" but I narrowed it down to the best three. He smiles for the picture, but then decides he wants to avoid the flash, but then at some point between those two decisions he decides that having a smile on really still is important. The third one is kind of blurry, but I believe that picture captures the exact moment of decision.

And here's a "nice" picture of smiley Cade.

But what I really wanted to tell you about was his haircut today. He was such a good boy! I was a little nervous about how it would go since he is SO wiggly. All the time. Everyday. But enough was enough: he was developing quite the mud flap in the back. I know we live in and Cade was born in Kentucky, but at some point you just have to take the appropriate stand against mullets. :)

So far so good. Sitting on the little booster seat very well!

At first he didn't quite like the cape. But when he got to play with a hair clip he was very compliant.

After a while the hair clip just wasn't fun enough anymore so we got a comb in his hands and he was happy again.

Overall he did wonderful! He sat very still for LaDonna and now looks quite dapper and trim. Thanks a bunch LaDonna for doing a great job!

Here's a quick video of Cade standing up by himself. He's getting a lot better at this now and takes a few steps by himself now.

Walking, Rocking, and Carl

2009-08-15T21:50:00.007-05:00

Well, not quite walking yet, but kinda. He's taking up to five or so steps at a time, still very wobbly, and still not real consistently, but he seems to be showing more enthusiasm for it. Today he actually walked a few steps to me, fell down, stood back up (without help), walked a couple more, fell down, and then decided to just crawl. And then later this evening he was standing by the bed in his room and wanted the blanket out of his crib so he walked the few steps to get it instead of crawling over there. Hopefully we can get a video of it soon so you all can see it. It's pretty amazing to watch him learn new things, and it blows my mind at just how much little babies' brains develop and pick up at this age.

This video is of Cade in his rocking chair. This chair was a very special birthday present from Susie's parents. This rocking chair belonged to Susie's great grandfather. Susie's dad refinished the rocking chair and then they had the webbing replaced so it's as good as new. Cade is still a little small for it, and for the most part he's ignored it until just recently. Susie got a good video of his newest trick, which is how he likes to climb into it and rock.

Here's a bonus outtake:

I wonder if any other parents out there fight the getting dressed battle like we do. Every night we follow pretty much the same routine. When Cade starts getting tired we get him in the bath. We'll do a small snack with some milk either before or after the bath. After bath/snack, we brush his little teeth (all ten of them!). Then we read a book or two together. Then we say our prayers and it's off to bed. He's generally very compliant throughout the whole process, probably because we're pretty consistent with it and he knows what's coming. But.....at least 9 out of 10 nights it's a major struggle to get his pj's on him after his bath. I wonder if he thinks if he fusses enough that one glorious night we'll let him sleep in his birthday suit. I don't know why he gets cranky with us, but once his pj's are on him crab Cade goes away and sweet Cade returns from wherever he was hiding.

Cade is constantly adding to his vocabulary, and it's not always the words we expect. A friend and coworker sent a book for Cade called "Good Dog, Carl" (thanks Kate!). It's a story about a lady who leaves her baby under the dutiful watch of the family rottweiler, Carl. While she's gone, the dog gets the baby out of the crib and they have tons of fun dancing to music from the stereo, raiding the fridge, playing dress up, sliding down the laundry chute, and jumping on the bed. Before the lady comes home Carl puts the baby back in the crib and cleans up their messes. When the lady returns she's pleased to see the baby sleeping in the crib and tells the dog, "Good dog, Carl." It's a fun book because other than the initial instructions and the final words of praise, there is no text, so we can make up the story as we go. Well, tonight Cade grabbed that book and handed it to me. I said "Good Dog, Carl!" and Cade looked me in the eye and repeated "Carl." Then he kept saying it. Hilarious. He hears the words "good" and "dog" way more frequently than "Carl," but he chose to say "Carl." I shot a quick video on my phone, so the quality's not super, and the lighting was poor, but hopefully you can catch it. (And yes, he's sitting in his toy box. I'm not sure why, but he just climbed in it, which made me laugh.)

July

2009-08-01T21:39:00.008-05:00

Wow, it's really been almost a month since I posted last. July was a fairly busy month for us. We had a little travel, I finished up my summer class, Susie is still teaching and taking summer classes, and we've just been generally busy. But that's no excuse for this long layoff. I apologize, but hopefully you'll forgive me when you see the smorgasbord of pictures and videos I have for you.

Cade is still not walking across the room, but he's starting to stand very well on his own, and he's doing a good job of walking a step or two towards something he wants. But in the end I think he just feels more comfortable with crawling and knows he can crawl faster than he can walk. So usually he'll take about a half a step or two and then plop down and crawl wherever he wants to go. Eventually I think it'll click in his head and he'll just start to prefer a walk to a crawl.

One week in July I traveled to our plant near Indianapolis so Susie, Cade, and Chili took the opportunity to head off to Alabama. I know Susie's family appreciated having them around, and Susie appreciated the chance to get some extra work done while spending time with her family. I went down that following weekend and we all had a great time.

Here's Cade just chillin' at VeeVee and Granddaddy's.

Cade loved to eat the fresh-picked blackberries and blueberries. We have a place near Owensboro where Susie has picked blueberries many times this summer. She also got to pick some in Alabama. I don't know if it has to do with the soil or the climate or what, but the blueberries here in Kentucky have to be some of the sweetest, best-tasting blueberries I've ever had. Cade loves them too. Overall he's turned into a fruit eating machine. Despite his rocky start with bananas (detailed in this post), I think they've turned into his favorite fruit to eat. He can almost say "banana," but the "n's" come out more like "d's."

Susie has also been firing the bread machine up quite a bit this summer. She's becoming a master with that thing. She's made many different kinds of wheat breads, but I've really been digging the sourdough loaves she's been cooking lately. Cade loves it too. He gets all excited when you plop momma's bread down in front of him.

Tell me you've seen a baby more talented than this:

Cade love frozen grapes. We cut them in half so they're less of a choking hazard, and they disappear faster than back copies of Michael Jackson CD's. Here are a couple pictures of his latest trick. He's been stacking them into pyramid and then applauding himself.

Just kidding. We built the pyramid of grapes for him. :) But he did enjoy watching us work. Just imagine how impressed you'd be if he really DID build it himself.

I think one of the more fun things lately has been watching his tiny vocabulary grow little by little. He's been saying "mama" and "dada" and "ug" for a while now, but more recently he's starting to expand his repertoire. Here are a few videos showing off three of his newer words. NOTE: To be considered for these videos, the word has to be repeated intentionally. He's starting to be more consistent in referring to specific objects with different sounds. Sometimes the sound is unintelligible, like when he refers to a light or a fan as "dah." It's consistent, but not a real word. Here are a couple real words he's learned.

You can imagine my pride when one of his first words is (this is his newest word he's learned):

He can also say "ball." He doesn't quite have the "l" sound down pat, so sometimes it sounds more like "baw," but he definitely knows what a "baw" is. He still loves to play with his Rockies bat and baw. (He speaks quietly in this video.)

And this is a fun one he's perfected over the last few weeks.

One of the reasons I've personally been busier lately is because I'm training for a half marathon in October. My buddy Jared and I will be running it together and we've been doing a lot of our longer runs on the weekends together. I've never been a super enthusiastic runner, but since Susie and I quit our gym at the start of the year (it had turned into a dump), I wanted to find a way to exercise for free. Running is free, so I slowly worked at increasing my mileage and Jared finally talked me into the half marathon.

Susie ran cross country in college, so I think she was a little jealous of me running while she was still in the nursing stage of baby-rearing. She had been getting back in shape by doing pilates and step classes, but hadn't been running. Well, when we were in Alabama she said she wanted to run with me on my long run that Saturday. So she dusted off her running shoes and did 7.5 miles with me like it was no big thing. I tell you, I'm more impressed with her all the time.

A few Saturdays ago I ran my first 10K. It was a night run, which was good because it was cooler than running during the day. I was so excited to see Susie, Cade, and Chili standing at the 4-mile marker. I still can't say I really like running, but it's been a great way to stay in shape, and it's growing on me. We're looking for a used running stroller so we can go as a family, so if you know of anyone trying to get rid of one let us know!

Thanks for being patient this month. I'll do my best to post more frequently as we head towards fall!

Cade's Cake Dive

2009-07-04T17:11:00.003-05:00

Ok, it took too long to get this up here, but here it is! He just wanted to eat on the frosting at first, but after he got a taste of the cake itself he grabbed a bite that was too big for his mouth and just kept shoving it in.

We took Cade to his one-year checkup last week and he weighed in at 21 lb, 15 oz, which kept him in the 40th percentile. He was 30 1/4" tall, which is in the 75th percentile. He was a big stud when it came to getting his vaccinations. He cried a little, but was very brave and was ready to play that afternoon. I'm still on the fence on whether I really want my kid being vaccinated, but because we live in such a small town with zero opportunity for alternative medicine we've followed the recommended vaccination schedule so far (if you want a long explanation regarding my dissillusionment with modern standard medicine and drugs, ask me about it offline sometime, and get ready for a lengthy discussion). To this point, it seems that every time he's had a shot he comes down with some sort of crud. One vaccination, Rotateq, made its way through all three of us (literally, ugh) back in November. But so far he's done very well this time around, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

I'm finding that he's becoming more of a "boy" in his play, at least around me, and it's awesome! He likes to wrestle around with daddy and he cracks up when I put him on my shoulders and run around the house (the high ceilings on our first floor are perfect for hot laps). One thing that makes him laugh is me throwing his foam blocks at him, and the harder I throw them the harder he laughs. Just this afternoon we played a new game where he'd crawl away from me and I'd drag him back to me by his ankles and tickle him all over. Then he'd try crawling away again. Every few times I'd let him get away to mommy, but that obviously wasn't as fun for him as getting caught. He'd turn around and crawl at me and head-butt me right in the forehead and then try to get away again. Hilarious.

Thanks for following along, and have a great day!

Birthday Boy!

2009-06-24T21:29:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was Cade's first birthday and we celebrated all weekend in style! Both my parents and Susie's parents came out for the weekend and it was great to have the whole crew here. Cade is really lucky to have two great sets of grandparents. We had a party for him on Saturday night, and I figure we can get right to the pictures:

Susie went to Kroger to get some food on Friday, and she also got Cade a balloon. I think the balloon was his favorite part of the weekend. We tied it to the tray on his highchair and it became a source of entertainment at each meal.

Here's Susie with Cade's cake before it was destroyed. Susie was a food preparing champ for his party. Pretty much everything was homemade and it all was delicious.
This cake never had a chance. At first he just kind of licked at the frosting. Then I gave him a piece of the cake itself. At that point he just chowed down. We have a pretty good video of the cake feeding frenzy; I'll get it in another post soon.

Leaning in for a picture. Cade took the opportunity to slime Mommy with cake frosting.

Cade with the four grandparents.
Three generations.
Opening presents.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Cade LOVES to swing. :)

Another thing he's taken to is the teeter-totter.

Since our anniversary was in the previous week, Nana and Grandpa watched Cade one night while Susie and I went out on a date. Cade took the opportunity to show off his operatic singing voice with a soapy fauxhawk.

When I look at this picture all I can see is "Dumb and Dumber." "You go talk to her and I'll just stand here and put out the vibe."

Cade already likes playing baseball! I knew he was an exceptional kid. :) Cade likes it when I help him hit, and we spent some time hitting last weekend. Not sure if he's a righty or a lefty yet so we're working both sides of the dish right now.
Here's a picture of a new game: jumping off the couch onto Daddy. And it's not just a roll off the couch; it's a swan dive.

We spend so much time building towers of blocks and he insists on knocking them over.

As mentioned, I have a pretty good video of Cade devouring the cake, and I'll publish that soon (I hope). Stay tuned!

In the meantime....

2009-06-18T22:45:00.003-05:00

....here's a picture of Cade at an outing at the park for Bridgepointe Church's kids. Cade LOVES to swing at the park. Thanks to Jeff Estes for this great picture!

I know this blog has been stale for a couple weeks. Just wait! We have a birthday coming up with grandparents visiting; updates are imminent!

Bumps...

2009-06-03T21:14:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone out there in blogland. Guess what? Cade continues to grow and develop and learn new things. Believe it or not, he has not settled down at all. He is a picture of perpetual motion. And just in the last couple weeks I think we're starting to see the presence of the sin nature that we're all stuck with. He's really started testing his limits on certain things. For example, he bites Susie and me and others occasionally. If you're holding him he'll sometimes try to bite you on the shoulder. Or other times he'll try to bite your finger or arm. We've started telling him "no" when he bites, and I know he knows what he's doing. The reason I know is because after I tell him "no" he'll take my hand or arm or whatever he was just biting, put his mouth on it (without biting), and look at me and give a sly smile. Or sometimes we'll notice him try to put things in his mouth that just don't belong there. So we'll take whatever it was out of his mouth and tell him "no" and give him something else to chew on or play with. If he can, he will go directly to what it was we took away from him, pick it up, and put it on his chin or cheek, look at us, and give that sly smile again. Sweet and innocent? Not all the time. But we still love him. We're just going to have to start talking more about how we want to handle disciplinary situations so we provide a consistent front. Did this have to come so quickly?

On a cuter note, he's also been a lot more playful lately as well. I just love getting to interact with him. His repertoire of noises and syllables continues to grow as well. And he's becoming more and more coordinated in his movements, especially pulling himself up on things and moving around. Walking probably isn't that far away. It's so much fun being a dad, especially a dad to this kid. I know you guys come to this site for the pictures, so here we go:

To start off, here are a few pictures from my sister Amy of when we met her and Paul in Fort Pierce, FL.

Contemplating life and just how stinkin' cool I look in a fauxhawk.

Cade has no fear. Not of heights, not of flipping around, not of being upside-down. He likes to ride on my shoulders and he especially likes it when I pretend like I'm dumping him off behind me.

This was the only one out of like seven where we were all looking at the camera, but it was a fun photo shoot.

During Memorial Day weekend the Keaton girls dropped by to say hi to Cade. He has more girls calling on him already than his dad ever did.

He definitely knows how to ham it up for the camera.Speaking of hamming it up, he definitely hasn't forgotten how to scrunch his nose up.

Last week we were fortunate enough to have my cousins Chris (on the right) and Brian stay a night with us on their way from SoCal to New York. I hadn't seen them for a few years, so it was great catching up. They hadn't met Cade, so he got some play time with his second cousins (Is that right? If they're my cousins does that make Cade their second cousin?). Chris and Brian's parents are moving to Colorado soon, so hopefully that means we'll be able to see them more often during the holidays.

Here's a random picture of Cade being helpful around the house.

Last Sunday afternoon was the annual church picnic, and here's a picture of Edie taking Cade down the slide. Cade digs slides, and I think he's pretty fond of Edie and her sister Allie too.

What's a picnic without some sort of messy food? Here he's getting all covered with baked beans (and other things I'm sure). He liked the barbecue fare and stuffed his face.

This last picture is of a bruise Cade gave himself this morning. I was just walking out of the kitchen to go run when in rapid fire succession I heard: "Oh no!", Big Bump, the dreaded split second of silence that feels like an eternity, SCREAM. With his increased mobility and curiousity, he keeps putting himself in more situations where it's possible to fall and hit something. I mentioned that he's getting more coordinated, but he still takes a lot of falls. In this case he smacked his cheek on a shelf. I've been impressed with his toughness and pain tolerance, but it definitely took a few minutes to calm him down after this one. A couple of nights ago I was playing with him and he had pulled himself up on a window sill near where Chili was laying. He's become more adept at letting himself down from a standing position. He used to just fall, but now he can kind of hold on and start the descent before letting go so he lands a lot more softly. It's graceful compared to how he used to sit, but it's still not a picture of grace. This particular time he must have heard something right as he let go, so he kind of spun and arched his back as he fell backwards. I don't know if his head hit the window sill or if he landed weird on Chili's paw, but he came up crying with blood all over his mouth. It scared me at first until I could tell it was coming from his upper gums. He was a pretty tough little guy with that one. He was just about done crying by the time I got the blood wiped off his face.

I guess these instances are sort of a microcosm of what parents go through everyday on a broad scale. Can any other parents relate? On one hand, Susie and I want to shelter him and protect him from anything that could hurt him. I hate seeing him in pain. On the other hand, we want him to explore and experience things, even if it means a bump or bruise along the way. I guess there's a fine line somewhere in the middle that contains a healthy dose of protection along with a long enough leash to learn some things on his own. At this point, we're still feeling our way along that line and trying to figure it out as we go. I'm sure that line sits differently for every person, and maybe that line will change as Cade grows. He's already shown signs of being stubborn and strong willed, so maybe he needs to learn some things on his own. I don't know, and I'm sure we'll come to points all throughout his life where we have to decide how much leash to let him have. We've never done this before, but we're relying on God for the right wisdom at the right time.

11 months/FL trip part 2

2009-05-23T17:28:00.005-05:00

I think I think this every month: "I can't believe it's been (fill in the blank) months since Cade was born! It seems like yesterday! He's getting old too quick!" So today was no different. 11 months! In 31 days he'll be a year old! Wow. He is still just so much fun, and he keeps learning new things and trying new things.

At this point he's getting very good at pulling himself up on anything. What he's not so good at is doing it in a graceful manner every time. He has become the master at finding an object his head has not yet met and flinging said head into it. And he can do it in the blink of an eye. He requires more vigilant watching now than he ever has. I'm sure when we're out in public people look at him and think we're either very neglectful parents or we enjoy smacking him around. And he doesn't ever fall on his arm or shoulder or chest or anything except for his head. Any other parents out there experience this or is Cade just that good at it?

The fact that he is incredibly active doesn't help his head out at all either. I don't know how many times he's almost wriggled free when I'm holding him. One thing he does well is climb the person that's holding him. He'll push himself away from your body, wedge his little feet up on your chest or stomach and start walking up your torso. It makes it very difficult to hold him, and he just laughs and laughs.

He's been pulling up for a while, but he's now advancing to being able to pull himself along the couch or something else and kind of shuffle along. I don't think it will be long now before he's starting to walk on his own.

We got back from Florida a week ago. My sister Amy is sending me the pictures from her camera (she has a much nicer camera and is a much better photographer than Susie or me), so I'll post some of them soon. We had a blast seeing Amy and Paul for dinner one night. The whole trip was great, but it was good to be back home too. We were ready to have a little more room, and Cade and I had come down with some kind of cold/flu. We weren't hanging out with any piggies, so I don't think it was the mass panic-inducing version we've been hearing too much about, but it slowed us down for a couple of days.

This last week we got new carpet in our upstairs. It has been thoroughly Cade-tested and Cade-approved. It feels like a completely new house upstairs.

Well, I know everyone comes for the pictures, so here are a few. Like I said, I'll post more from Amy's camera when I can. Thanks for stopping by!

We met Paul and Amy at a pretty cool tiki bar-style restaurant right on the Indian River in Ft. Pierce, FL, which was almost exactly halfway between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. Cade pleaded with us to let him work his hair up into a fauxhawk. So we relented.

This picture of Cade and Uncle Paul turned out pretty good.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Susie's brother, Dustin, has a friend who works in ticket sales for the Magic. So he got us a pair of media passes for Game 6 of the Magic/Celtics playoff series. We entered through the tunnel at one corner of the arena and had to walk around the court to get to our seats, which were at the top of the lower bowl. Kevin Garnett has been my favorite NBA player since his days in Minnesota; unfortunately the policeman shuffled us by the Celtics bench before I could take a picture, but our eyes briefly locked and I think he could feel the love. I did have my camera ready when we walked by the Magic bench though. It's good I didn't get a video because Van Gundy was letting loose a string of f-bombs due to the fact that the Magic weren't playing very well to start the game. Not very family friendly. But the Magic heeded his filthy words and ended up winning and Dustin and I had a great time.

Here's Cade showing off his ability to stand up the day we got back.

Florida

2009-05-13T20:55:00.005-05:00

We're halfway through our trip to Florida and I thought I'd post a few pictures:

Saturday we got to see Susie's brother Dustin graduate from the University of Central Florida. Congrats Dustin! He's now off to work for Direct TV selling sports packages so if you're in that market let me know and I can get you in touch with him for a sweet deal.

After graduation we went back to the hotel (in Orlando) to do a little swimming. Cade has this hilarious looking, but highly effective swimsuit. It's like a little wrestling singlet with a foam pad sewn into the chest and back. He seems to really like water, and this thing helps him stay afloat.

I don't have any pictures of it, but I got to see another shuttle launch from my company's plant in Merritt Island. This one was during the day, but it was no less impressive. I wonder if seeing it ever gets old for the people around here. Doubtful. I have a long video of the launch, but it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped it would.

Last night Susie and I had a great dinner with one of my coworkers and his wife at this outstanding seafood place on Cape Canaveral. We got out to the coast a little early so we drove down toward Cocoa Beach and found a spot to take Cade out to the water for the first time. He was smiling the entire time. We think he really enjoyed the beach time. Here's a picture of his first time putting his toes in the sand.

And his first dip into the waves.

My good looking family.

Cade's turned into a pretty good ham when it comes to picture time. He's always cheesin' it up.

Our son is still a baby, but he's almost half as tall as his mom!

Here's a short video of him getting his pants a little wet (Dad's fault). He cracks a pretty good smile at the end of the video. That kid is so much fun.

This Friday we're actually going to be able to get together with my sister Amy and her husband Paul, who will be down in Ft. Lauderdale for a short vacation. We're looking forward to that and I'll be sure to post some pictures of the rest of the vacation.

A new trick

2009-05-06T21:55:00.003-05:00

The very first piece of baby clothing we ever bought for Cade was documented here. Well, he's over 10 months old and it finally fits! It looks great with the doggie hat the Keatons bought him. Pictures below.

I read the post I linked above and it reminded me of my need to be a good example for Cade. He's only 10 months old, but you can tell he's already starting to try and repeat some of the words we say. He has "dada," "mama," and "ug" (dog) down pretty well. But you can tell he's working on other sounds that he hears. So wouldn't it be a bummer if I said something improper and the next thing I hear is my infant son repeating it? Tame the tongue daddy.

In that post I also noticed how naive I was. I feel like Susie and I have learned a LOT in the last year. Our breadth of life experiences continues to expand at breakneck speed. Despite the multitude of lessons constantly presenting themselves in new ways I still feel very unknowledgeable (is that a word?). Don't get me wrong, I know how to change a diaper now. Cade has even made sure we've graduated to phase two and three of diaper prowess with all his wiggling and crawling and his occasional curious hand that gets a good grip on some poo every once in a while. But having a kid makes you feel completely helpless sometimes. It goes back to the worry issue Jesus addresses in Matthew 6. Where is my focus?

Last Sunday I had a pretty intense aha moment. I play in the band at church, so I get to see the response time at the end of each service from a different angle than most of the people in the room. Last Sunday our pastor gave an invitation at the end of the service and as we played I noticed a kid who looked about 9 or 10 years old come walking down and talk with our youth pastor for a while. After talking for a while he pointed out his dad and his dad walked down and joined them. As the song ended the dad sat down with the kid in the front row and put his arm around him with a humongous smile on his face. That is exactly what I pray for regarding Cade every day. I long to experience that within our own family. I've prayed for that for quite a while now, but actually seeing it take place within another family right in front of me was a stark reminder to stay vigilant. Cade's life is pretty basic at this point, but I pray that at some point he comes to terms with his humanness and that reality leads him to a relationship with Jesus. There is no greater decision than that.

In other news, school is now over for the semester. I'm looking forward to no classes until June while Susie's summer classes start next week. Her classes are primarily online this summer though, so we look forward to a lot of time together at home.

This Saturday we are flying down to Orlando to see Susie's brother Dustin graduate from college. We're taking advantage of Allegiant Air's direct flight from Owensboro to Orlando. Kind of random, but very handy. It will be Cade's first time to the beach. We'll take lots of pictures and you can see them right here.

One last thing: Cade has learned a new skill. Every night we have a pretty standard routine: bath, bottle, and bed. Either Susie or I will take a bath with Cade and then the other will give him his bottle and put him down. It usually works pretty well. The other night I heard Susie say, "Matt, come in here and check THIS out." We have a basketball hoop that sticks to the side of the tub with suction cups. For a while now we've showed Cade how to put the ball in the hoop and then we'll give the ball to him. He usually chews on it or splashes it around. Not anymore. He slam dunked that ball like a pro over and over. We cheered and made a big deal about it each time he put it in the basket. He even tried to get sneaky. A couple times he'd put the ball over the rim so we'd cheer for him and then he'd pull it out at the last minute to try and trick us while giving us a big smile. The next night when I got in the bath with him I wanted to see if he remembered. Sure enough, I handed the ball to Cade and he dropped it right in. It's pretty cool seeing him put stuff together in his head.

Enough talking. Here are the pictures. Thanks for keeping up with us!

This is Why I Give Blood

2009-04-30T22:49:00.003-05:00

I gave blood for the first time back in 2001 or 2002 shortly after my late Grandpa had surgery to remove his kidneys. As a result of that surgery he had to go to dialysis three times a week to have his blood filtered. There were many times when he needed someone else's blood given to him because of his condition. My dad's dad was an amazing person with a big heart, a big smile, and an outgoing personality. I miss him a lot. He was someone I looked up to in so many different ways and he was a joy to everyone he came in contact with. One thing that really makes me sad is the fact that Cade never got to meet him. Sometimes Cade will make an expression (usually a smile) and it will remind me of my Grandpa.

So I started giving blood as kind of a tribute to my Grandpa who was on dialysis. It was my little way of symbolically giving it to him even though we lived in different states. Even now that he is gone I still try to make it to the blood center every eight weeks.

I went a couple days ago and I was pretty overdue (last donation was in January). During the process of donating, I asked the nurse (phlebotomist I believe?) if they were in short supply of any particular type of blood. I am B+, which is a fairly rare type; according to this website, only 9.4% of the population has B+.

Since we had been out of town for a couple weeks we hadn't heard about the stabbing that had occured in Owensboro the week before. Stories here and here. Apparently this guy is type B+ and at the time of my donation the hospital was asking the blood bank to keep a large number of units of B+ on hot standby because they were still going through a lot of blood.

It had never hit home like that for me. As she took the bag of my blood out of the room I watched it and knew that there was a good chance it would be pumped into a person about my age that was fighting for survival. I haven't seen or heard any reports about him in the last couple days, so I don't know how he's doing. The reason it hit home is that every other time in the past I just knew it was going into this amorphous "bank" of blood that would eventually be used. I never had a face or name, which is what made it more real and a little more intense for me this time.

My resolve has strengthened to not be delinquent in the future. This experience also made me want to keep myself as healthy as possible in order to donate blood of the highest quality. And I hope that by reading this some of you will decide to go give blood. Just because a name or a face isn't available doesn't mean every drop isn't needed.

Pictures and Videos

2009-04-26T20:19:00.008-05:00

I decided that we've not been using our camera enough lately. It takes pretty good videos, and we really don't have any excuse not to preserve as many images of our kid as possible. Don't get me wrong; we have hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures and short videos of Cade, but we've been lax lately. So here are some more pictures and videos for you out-of-town family and friends who don't get to see him on a regular basis.

In the last few days Cade's figured out how to spread what he's eating into his hair. It's pretty funny, as long as it's easy to clean up. I guess he just wants to make sure we remember to wash his hair every night. One food he's really taken to is avocados. Susie and I eat them a lot, so we pass Cade a few pieces to chew on pretty frequently. They're great: they're soft, easy to chew, have a great mellow flavor, and as a bonus they have wonderful oils for your hair. Last night Cade really seemed to latch onto that last advantage of an avocado. We went to take a couple bites of our dinner and looked over to see a baby covered with avocado and the rest of his meal (avocado makes a great paste as well). It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but he'd spread it all up in his hair, which is why it's standing up. You can tell he was enjoying it.

Another thing he does that cracks me up is constantly find a way to put his feet up. When he's eating he always has his feet up on the underside of his tray like he's just chillaxin'.

Today was a great day. Cade and Susie are going back up to Bloomington this week so Cade and I got a lot of daddy/son play time today. He's developing preferences between some of his toys, and he really likes these interconnecting blocks. I think I had some of these when I was a little kid. When you make it wiggle around like a snake he laughs uncontrollably.

He's still not crawling up on his hands and knees, but he's definitely moving around better and better all the time. He still does the armyman crawl along his belly. A game he's recently started playing with me is crawling away from me and checking to see if I'm coming after him. He'll crawl a few feet and then roll over on his back and look at me and grin. If I start asking him where he's going he starts squealing and crawling faster. Eventually he'll get somewhere where I need to get him and he'll just collapse in giggles when I catch up to him. (I like that game too.)

Check out the stylin' cargo shorts with frayed hems. He wasn't supposed to wear them this morning. Susie had him all dressed up in a smooth plaid pair of overalls. I think he didn't wanted to wear them because he dropped a bomb I would have been proud of in that little diaper. It may have been his biggest turd to date. It got everywhere. That diaper definitely required a 2-person crew to clean up (not counting Cade). So we tag teamed it and cleaned him, his clothes, the changing pad, and the exersaucer up.

Here's a video of Cade showing off his pipes. He loves to sing and if we break out the guitar, the piano, or even just play music from the iPod, he'll start singing along.

In this video Cade's doing his best Chewbacca impression. Very good if you ask me (but I'm his dad).

I guess it was about a month ago Cade started doing this little chuckle, or chortle, if you will. It's kind of a half cough, half laugh. The faces he makes while doing this reminds me of expressions Darrell Hammond might make in an SNL skit. He follows the chortle up with a dead on impression of a squeaky screen door and a reprise of the Chewy bit.

The grand finale video of this post (and possibly the funniest on this blog so far). You will soon be rewarded for reading all the way down to here. I hate to give away any of the plot line on this one, but listen closely at the 13 second mark. He's already figured out how to strategically place a cough. I'm so proud I'm tearing up.

As you can see in the pictures and videos, we've been incredibly blessed with a super happy baby. He is so much fun to be with and take care of. It's hard to believe he's over ten months old. It doesn't feel like that long since I was driving Susie to the hospital. Everyone I talk to tells me to savor every bit since it will continue to fly by. So that's what we're trying to do. Hopefully all of you enjoy looking in on us as Cade grows and grows. I've said it before, but thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers for us and Cade.

Good to be back

2009-04-24T14:31:00.003-05:00

I've been in Norfolk, NE, since last Friday for work. The work was good, but I missed the family. I got back kind of late last night, but Cade was wide awake and was super excited to see me. He had a hard time calming down and going to sleep after that. It was cute and it made me feel good to see him get so excited. Here are a couple pictures of him this morning when I was feeding him breakfast. He was still excited. I love that little guy.

We think he's starting to associate Susie, Chili, and I with certain sounds and is able to identify us. He's definitely got "dada" and "mama" down. He calls for "mama" more when he's upset. I can calm him down most of the time, but "mama" has the touch all the time. We think he's started identifying Chili too, which is pretty cool. Cade absolutely adores Chili, and Chili's coming around with Cade since he's been identified as a food scrap source at meal times. Cade's learned to say the hard "g" sound (like in the word bug), so instead of "Chili" we've been trying to teach him to say "dog." He sometimes gets the word out, but then other times it just comes out as "ug." But lately when Chili walks up he'll say "ug" over and over. Pretty cute. It's amazing to watch his development.

On the move

2009-04-15T19:58:00.004-05:00

These last couple weeks have been pretty busy ones, so I haven't been posting as much as I've wanted to. I've been traveling a little, and school is heading toward the stretch run for Susie and me, but that doesn't mean it's been calm on the Cade front.

A couple weeks back Susie's mom came in and stayed at the house with Cade and me while Susie went up to school for a week. It was fun to have Cade around during the week, and it was the longest break Susie had had since Cade was born. I know she appreciated the rest and time to herself that week and I appreciated the company, the help with Cade, and the great meals Velma made. I know we told you thanks back then, but here's a public thanks for all that help Vee Vee! You truly are appreciated.

Cade spent his first Easter kind of sick. Susie and Cade were up in Bloomington on Good Friday and she called me around 4am on Saturday morning to tell me he was just moaning and had thrown up all over himself and her. It's tough getting that call in the middle of the night and not being able to do anything about it from 3 hours away. In my new job I don't get called in the middle of the night anymore, so I've kind of lost the touch of being able to become instantly wide awake when the phone wakes me up, but it wasn't too tough when it was Susie and Cade.

It turns out he had an ear infection and a pretty rough sounding cough and chest cold. Susie ended up taking him to an urgent care clinic in Bloomington Saturday morning, and the doctor gave him some antibiotics. He's doing pretty well now; his cough is lingering a bit, and he's pretty clingy to Susie but you can tell he's feeling better. We're hoping tonight he'll sleep through the night because since he's been sick the nights have been rough.

Other than the sickness, you can't really compain much when you have a kid as fun and cheerful as Cade. He's still a big time swing-lover. A couple nights ago we took him and Chili on a walk down to the park. As we were getting nearer to the park Cade started getting kind of fussy. We weren't sure how fast we needed to get back, but once we got on the swing he forgot whatever was making him upset.Here are a couple pictures we took tonight of Cade eating some squash. He liked it so much he put it up in his hair and all over his face. These small pictures don't do the amount of squash that was on him any kind of justice.

He's not quite "crawling" yet, but he has the army crawl down pretty well. You definitely have to keep an eye on him because he's really learning how to move around. Here's a video of him trying to get Chili tonight. The video's kind of dark, but you get the idea. Never a dull moment!

Visits

2009-03-28T16:53:00.006-05:00

Last weekend was a great one. My mom and dad came out to visit us for a few great days. But before I saw them I was out in South Carolina and Georgia for work. While in Savannah I was able to see my Granny (my mom's stepmother), who I hadn't seen in over ten years. It was great to get to see her and talk with her and spend time with her. She's getting along very well, and we had a good time eating at a little English pub and walking down on the river. The waitress didn't do a real good job of centering the picture - oh well....

That week Susie was able to visit family as well down in Baton Rouge. Some of her extended family hadn't met Cade yet so it was good for her to head down there and introduce him. The way our flights lined up, my parents actually flew into Nashville before we got back so they picked us up at the airport. We went by the Opry Mills Mall to eat lunch and Cade got to watch the fish in the Bass Pro Shop there. He had a ball seeing them swim around. It made us want to get an aquarium at home for him to watch. It's a little hard to see due to the reflection, but there is a pretty big fish at the glass looking right at Cade and I.

My mom and dad got a lot of holding and playing and feeding and cuddling time with Cade, but I don't think any amount of time is ever enough for grandparents. :)

Cade was all about trying to eat the zipper on my dad's jacket.

You think your baby is pretty cool? Well, can your baby shake a toy with his left hand while making a foam block levitate with his right hand? (Ok, I'm actually holding it.) And as you can see, Chili takes his guard dog duty very seriously. He likes the upstairs sun room because he can keep an eye on the entire backyard as well as most of the block. Squirrels and birds don't dare enter our yard for fear of the verbal scoldings Chili hands out. The only animal that doesn't seem to care much is the neighborhood possum. He mosey's around wherever he wants. One time Chili had him up a tree and it was hissing at him and baring his teeth pretty menacingly, but that's about it for him. It drives Chili bonkers if he's in our yard (and yes, I realize I sound like a hick talking about a neighborhood possum, but we really do live downtown, it's just a downtown in Kentucky).

It's a little tough to tell, but Cade's front four teeth are in pretty well and they're anything but straight. Honestly, they look more like tire treads. I guess as his mouth grows they'll have more room to spread out and straighten out (we hope). Susie needed braces, I didn't. Hopefully his teeth take after Daddy's.

Rolling around on the floor with Grandpa. Lots of fun!

If you want to hold Cade you'd better be aware of the risks involved. He loves to grab things, and I mean anything. If you aren't wearing a hat, glasses, necklace, earrings, or a hoodie with drawstrings, he'll go right for your ear, nose, lip, eyebrows, cheeks, throat, or chin. And you'd better hope he'd recently had his fingernails trimmed or he can definitely leave a scratch with his strong little grip. Sometimes if I'm talking to him he'll put his hand in my mouth and stare at my face like he's feeling what my tongue and lips are doing to make the different sounds.

He's always been super ticklish, and I test him a lot to make sure he retains that quality.

Cade and Grandpa share a deep love for Cheerios. Susie found this Cheerios container at a garage sale, and it's perfect for stashing them in the diaper bag for a quick snack on the go. And my dad is the most consistent Cheerios eater I've ever known. It's what he eats pretty much every morning. I think he's got a jealous eye on that Cheerios holder. Oh, and if you look at the end table in the background, you can see the trophy my dad won for winning his age group in the local 5k we ran in last weekend. Cade and I have large shoes to fill.

Cade up in the branches of a cherry tree down on Griffith. My parents have similar pictures of both my sister and I when we were this size. He was pretty tired during this photo shoot. That bear hoodie cracks me up. He looks great in it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Cade LOVES to swing. This time he's holding on and smiling in the breeze. Check out the post to see a picture from last July in the same swing. He sure has grown a lot.

As one of Susie's friends pointed out on her facebook page, he really looks like Mommy in this picture.

All that activity and fun with Nana and Grandpa sure tired Cade out.

I don't know how long it will be before he's crawling, but he's scooting himself along the floor on his stomach and pushing himself up onto all fours. It's just a matter of time before we have to learn to sprint while bent at the waist. He's also developed this super cute laugh. It sounds like a half cough, half laugh/chuckle. HIGH-larious. I think he's just learned to make that sound and likes to do it to make us laugh. Something else he's started doing is showing preference for certain things. If we give him a something and he's got his eye on something else he'll just shove the first thing off to the side.

He's eating great, he's been sleeping very well, and he's growing like a weed. We sure are blessed to have a super fun kid in our house. The other day "Wires" by Athlete (hear it here)came up on my iTunes shuffle and I hadn't heard that song in months. The last time I heard it I couldn't stop a couple tears from leaking out. But the lines that stood out to me this time were "I've seen Christmas lights reflect in your eyes," and "Looking at you now, you would never know." The first week with Cade was scary and stressful at times, but God is good and he provides health and growth.

Speaking of growth, Cade has his nine-month checkup on Monday so I'll update with measurements soon after. I think the oddsmakers in Vegas currently have the over/under for when he passes Susie's height set at 2 years 7 months, but I haven't checked lately. Lately he hasn't been growing as fast as he did the first few months, but in the last couple days it seems like he's eating more, so maybe he's starting another growth spurt. Thanks so much for all your prayers and thoughts. We appreciate them all. And thanks for checking in on us.

Happy Spring!

2009-03-10T20:32:00.009-05:00

I hope it's as warm and nice where you are as it has been here. We've been enjoying the opportunities we've had to get Cade outside. Just tonight we walked down to the park and spent some time swinging while the wind blew the little bit of hair Cade has around until it stood straight up. The daylight savings time has helped too.

This last weekend he ran a bit of a low grade fever so we took him into the doctor's office on Monday. Turns out he had a small ear infection. He was determined to prove to us that winter wasn't over yet. He's been teething for a few weeks now (getting his fifth, sixth, and seventh teeth, no word yet on the eighth, so he's remains a little lopsided), and that's kept him a slightly clogged up in the nose. The doctor guessed that all the congestion helped plug up the tubes going from the ear to the throat, causing the infection. Either way, he was impressed that Cade made it this long without any other kind of sick baby visit. We've really been blessed with good health and a very smiley, happy baby. He continues to become more and more fun.

He's getting the hang of feeding himself. He takes after his Grandpa Gronseth and will eat Cheerios at every chance he gets. Tonight we went to a Turkish restaurant owned by a friend of Susie's here in Bloomington and he got a chance to try the Turkish chicken, bread, lentil soup, and white bean soup. Yum! There really isn't anything that he's repeatedly turned down yet.

I'm wondering if Cade will become a world famous singer someday (or at least famous to himself like his daddy). :) Most of the time we put any kind of music on he's hollering at the top of his lungs and changing pitch every once in a while. It probaby sounds like crap, but it's beautiful in Mommy's and Daddy's ears. He'll make that Wookie-like noise you get when you talk with a little spit or phlegm in the back of your throat. I kind of think guys can make that sound better than girls for the most part. Mommy can't make it but Daddy can, and Cade and I go back and forth with that one. It's hilarious. And we've just started making Indian Chief noises with his mouth like Mallory in our friend's blog. He'll get this big smile on his face and keep yelling as a way to encourage me to keep popping his mouth. Lots of fun. That one got quite a few smile tonight at the grocery store. I'll try to get a video of it soon.

He's also getting a lot more independent physically. He's not crawling yet, but he loves to wiggle and bounce, and it's for longer periods of time now. Remember the balancing baby pose from one of the last pictures in this post? Well, now when I hold him up like that he'll get this huge grin and just lean back so I have to catch him while he falls backwards. We've decided he might be a stunt double someday with that lack of fear. He'll just laugh and laugh and wiggle until I hold him up again for another round. I think that move makes the ladies at church cringe in fear. I need to get a video of that too.

Another thing I've noticed just in the last week is that Cade is becoming more spatially aware of his surroundings and more able to focus on things and recognize them at a distance. He'll watch someone walk away until they leave the room. Or he'll be sitting in the kitchen and hear someone coming down the stairs and look to the door that comes into the kitchen from the stairs.

He also loves bouncing in his exersaucer (if that's even a word). Our kitchen has a couple different doors and I'll go back and forth between doors and pop my head out and say "Hey!" He'll crack up and start bouncing and then I'll go to a different door. I'll pop out again and say "Hey!" again and he'll crack up and bounce again. Here are a couple picture of that exchange.

Here's the cracking up when I jump out from one side.

Here's the initial look of surprise when Daddy shows up in a different doorway.....

.....and then the action shot of a bouncing kiddo.

He's started getting smart about it too to where he'll anticipate me switching doorways so I have to mix it up on him and pop out of the same side every once in a while just to keep him honest. Brilliant kid, I tell you. He's already in the gifted program: he makes gifts for us in his pants every day. :)

Speaking of talented, I have to brag on Cade just a bit and let you know that we've already trained...uh, taught Cade to fold laundry. Tiny, nimble, baby fingers can fold clothes much faster and more efficiently than adult hands. So if you need laundry help we'll rent him to you for a low rate.....uh, let you watch him while we go to the movies or something. Just kidding, but I did catch him when he was just hanging out at laundry time the other day. He kind of looks like a prisoner in his stripey onesie. He may not know how to fold laundry but he sure is cute (spoken like a totally biased parent, I know, but I'm allowed to say that every once in a while, right?). Thanks for checking in!