5 mos. big!

sittin' up

Kaiden started sitting by himself a few days ago. He had been balancing for a few seconds by himself for a couple days, then he went outside with dad on Thursday and just sat by himself in the yard for about ten minutes while dad weeded. In fact, Brandon finished weeding and came back inside to have me look out the window and there he sat, perfectly content and just looking around at everything. He absolutely loves being outside. If he's upset we can take him outside and just stand on the porch and he quickly calms down. What a big little guy!

The cutest little pumpkin

What an appropriate costume for a little boy who, along with far too many other nicknames, responds to pumpkin. Lisa and I took Kaiden trick-or-treating on Pearl street. He wasn't old enough to get in on all the fun--although he loved staring at all the other brightly-costumed kids--but mama had fun showing him off...and she also enjoyed eating all his candy for him! It was also a sad day as Kaiden and I took Lisa to the airport and said goodbye. Yes, mama kept the little pumpkin in costume even at the airport--how embarrassing!

Kaiden had a nice picture taken by the Daily Camera Newspaper. You can check it out if you want at www.dailycamera.com. Just click on the "munchkin masquerade" link and look in the first gallery.

3 months goin on 30

3 Months

Autumn's arrival

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music....Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy." Psalm 98:8


photos from our hike

Hiking

We finally went on a day-hike when Lisa's friend, Twyla, was visiting from Canada last week. We had a wonderful time and loved the beautiful fall scenery!


Kaiden rode on dad and absolutely loved the hike!

Lis and Kaid a bit worried about the birds.

That's right, when we were eating lunch a couple very friendly birds swooped in and shared our lunch. Hours of fun:)

Baby Shower

Sue and Erika Moog and Holly Schaeffer hosted a wonderful baby shower for Kaiden when we were in North Platte last month. It was great to see so many old familiar faces and introduce them to the little guy.

Kaiden LOVES the little monkey he got that giggles at him. Sara and Hope had him smiling big over it.

It truly amazes me how girls begin liking babies at such a young age. Isn't the mothering instinct confounding? I've had girls who are still babies themselves see Kaiden and yell out "baby!!!" I don't know if Chloe (Holly's daughter) is quite there yet, but she still found Kaiden pretty interesting.

Worn out little Kaiden with his mama, grandma and great grandma

Cowboy'n

A couple weeks ago we were able to go to North Platte for a visit and for a shower that was thrown for Kaiden (photos to come). We had a wonderfully relaxing time, and even got to ride Annie one evening. Cowboy Kaiden had his first horse ride (if laying down on the blanket of a still-standing horse counts as a horse ride :)) I love this time of year on the ranch--the warm evening sun drenches everything in golden rays and in a few hours the orange harvest moon (that's right, orange) shines brightly in the star-covered sky. And the silence, I had forgotten how glorious is the sound of nothing but a warm breeze and chirping insects.

2 months

A snapshot...

of the past few weeks at the Dean's house

Kaiden's Aunty Lisa came to visit and will be spending the next couple months with us. She has been such a help and so much fun to have around!

Kaiden has discovered the new-found joy of smiling...

and talking. :)

Great Grandpa and Ruthie got to meet Kaiden

Our friend Mel came to visit and Lisa and I got to see some gorgeous sights when we took her up and dropped her off at Rocky Mt. National Park to hike.

I got my haircut

There has been lots of sleeping on dad as he has found some unique but effective ways of getting a grumpy little boy to catch some zzz's.

My little fish

Kaiden had his first swim yesterday. We took him to the North Boulder Rec. Center and he really seemed to like it! There was, of course, a little whining when he first hit the water, but then he just laid back and observed everything going on around him--the brightest thing he can find still being the most interesting. We went with our neighbors, so after I dried Kaid off Bran and I got to have some fun swimming together as Someone else watched him for me.

One Month Old

fuzzi bunz

My friend Natalie has loaned me all of the cloth diapers she used for her babies. You can't get much cheaper than that when even if you buy the cloth diapers and use them consistently you can save around $1000 per kid! Right now Kaid is just wearing them at home since they are still so big he looks like he has a blimp-bum and many of his clothes can't fit over them. I love them. They hold better than disposables (we haven't had a blow-out in one yet!), they are so soft and comfortable for him, and he is so stinkin cute! The one unfortunate thing (for him) is that they have earned him a new nick-name, "my little fuzzi bunz" (that's the name-brand of the diapers).

Funky little man

"A Babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men“ - Martin Fraquhar Tupper

Sleeping Beauty...

in a very masculine sort of way, of course.

Man a photo shoot is draining!