Archive for the ‘Qade’ Category
Communication Issues
10.06
Last night Stuart went to church an hour early so me and the Bubba were just “hangin’” at the house. He was kinda fussy at one point, so I was holding him on my lap, don’t we all just need a hug sometimes? Anyway, he started asking me for an “ock” and unfortunately I had not been taught that particular vocabulary word. I would “translate” various things, but he kept insisting on the “ock.” He was getting frustrated, which didn’t help his fussies, but I have to admit I was a little humored. I told him, “Mommy doesn’t understand “ock.” Show Mommy.” So he got off my lap and walked over to the utility room door. This we usually keep closed since the cat food and litter is in there. I opened the door for him though, highly curious about what in the world the “ock” was. He walked in, found his balloon, I was thinking, “Surely that isn’t an “ock”!!” It wasn’t, he just tossed it out of the room, and then went to the outside door insisting on “OCK!” I finally figured it out… he wanted to go for a walk. It was around the time we take our family walks, and Qade just LOVES to be outside! I was happy that he was able to show me what he meant, but I was sad too, because as much as I would have loved to go for a walk, we just didn’t have the time before church, so I had to turn the poor boy down after he had worked SO hard for it.
He didn’t forget though, and today he was still pretty interested in an “ock” so I obliged him and off we went. We took our ock down the driveway and onto the sandy hill, but didn’t go up. He got to pull the flowers off some weeds, play in the sand, and discover a black beetle that was crossing the road. That poor thing probably still doesn’t know what happened to it! All in all, our “ock” was a success, and seemed to satisfy the boy for the time being. He would LIVE outside if we let him! Tonight he got to help daddy stack some wood, and that thrilled him too. He just loves doing anything “guy.” After dinner, which I need to get a jump on making! we may go for a ‘real’ walk and actually get up the hill. Daddy can push the stroller. 
Keeping up with Qade’s vocab is a challenge, because he picks up words without us just “teaching” him, and then we become the pupil as he has to help us figure out what he is saying. I just love being a mommy!!!
17 Months
09.24
Yep, Qade hit the big one- seven yesterday! It’s hard to believe that I almost have a year and a half old! Wow! I honestly can’t remember life without him! It’s seems like he’s always been with us, and yet, I still can’t believe that he’s not our “baby” any more. Every day he seems more like a big boy and less like a baby. I still like to “baby” him now and then, but mostly he won’t have it- ha! Here’s some of the stuff he’s up to these days.
He weighs 22 1/2 pounds. Not gaining too fast right now but the doc says that’s normal
He is 32 and a quarter inches tall.
Vocabulary is probably around the 30ish words right now. Some favorite words are:
Picture (pic-toe)
Light (liiiiiile)
Snack (nak)
Drink (me)
Dog (Do or gog)
Kitty (teeee)
Ball
He is still signing, and saying “Please, thank you, more, and up” His “p” has gotten really good on “up”
Qade listens very well, and we’re so thankful for that. Especially fat momma who would otherwise have a hard time chasing him down. He will “come back” when he’s walking around outside. He will “put it back” when he gets something. He can be told to get his cup, book, snack, or drink and he knows what to do. He’s great at “giving it to mommy!” He also knows what to do when we tell him to “get your shoes.” We’re still working on being gentle with the cat. 
Qade can entertain himself for EXTENDED chunks of time with his board books, or even playing alone in his room. He still sleeps 12 hrs a night, and has 2ish naps a day. He’s beginning to grow out of a nap, but isn’t quite ready to always go without it. If he’s not sleepy though, he’ll stay contented in his crib talking and playing with his stuffed cow, Buford. It’s too cute! I love to peek through the crack in the door and watch him.
Some of his favorite foods are oatmeal. We have it almost every morning. He LOVES bacon and sausage! BPJ has become a favorite lunch, but he’ll gladly eat, chicken noodle soup, split pea, or just about whatever mommy has. I don’t believe he has a picky bone in his body (yet) and will eat whatever we have for dinner, even if it’s a little spicy! It’s great! He loves playing outside, and we all enjoy our evening family walks. He’s pretty much running now, and is pretty speedy! His favorite toys are still the ball and his various cars, and train.
Hmmm.. well, I guess I’ll leave it at that then. Wish you all could know him as well as I do. He’s such an awesome kid! I’m so glad that we get to have him in our family! Can’t wait to see how he loves his little brother!
Rain in the Mountains
08.14
This morning we drove down to camp. There is a mission board retreat going on, but also the BIG truck that has our newest staff members earthly possessions in it arrived and needed unloading. On our way here I noticed some big dark clouds looming ahead of us, and figured that it would be raining when we arrived. Sure enough! It’s slowing down the unloading process for the truck which is unfortunate, but I like the rain. Especially since we don’t see it all that often out here. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to participate in the retreat. They have a couple afternoon sessions today, but I’m with Qade as he’s having a much needed nap, so I will likely not make it to those. There is a service tonight, but since Qade has not yet mastered the “sitting still for that long” ability, I’ll probably not attempt that either. Qade is getting better. On Wed, I didn’t have to take him out till nearly the very end of the service. It was so cute when Stuart was leading the singing, Qade started waving his arm in the air too! Funny boy!
Qade is now 15 months, and I haven’t made his well baby check up yet, so I don’t know what he weighs, but I do know that he has gone through a growth spurt lately. Especially now that he’s walking everywhere he seems sooo much bigger! I was looking at his little frame with his baby foot imprint in it yesterday and thinkin, “Wow, could it really have been that tiny!” And I had a similar thought as he and I were going through his infant clothes to see what would work for the next one. I held up one of his newborn onsies, and was like, “You actually used to fit in this!” He was unimpressed though. Qade now has about a 15-20 word vocabulary. His favorite words right now are ball, dog, and kitty. He usually throws in lots of “uh-oh’s” as well, and of course he says please quite a bit. He thinks that if he says it that automatically means that he gets what he’s asking for. It’s a difficult concept. Qade LOVES sausage and bacon! I can occasionally get him to eat other meat, but those 2 I can always count on. He’s doing pretty good at his fruit and will even eat some fruit cup peaches now which he wouldn’t touch before. Something that always works though is garlic bread! Especially the Olive Garden kind, he just gobbles down! One of Qade’s favorite games right now is to ride on Daddy’s back! He’ll climb aboard all by himself and hang on for dear life as Stuart crawls around the livingroom and eventually “dumps” Qade onto the couch amidst squeels and giggles of delight. It’s hilarious to watch! Qade is doing very good with “no-no’s” as I said before, and he’s starting to get very good at coming when we call him. He’s learning to be “gentle” with the cat, which I think is good practice before he gets a baby brother. His screaming issues haven’t been as bad the past couple days, so maybe he’s getting over that fun little phase. Today I put him in tennis shoes to come to camp, and at first he was complaining, but then Stu took him outside, and he thought it was pretty cool that in those shoes he could walk over the rocks and such. After that he has had quite a kick out of stomping around in his little shoes. I just can’t get over what a big boy he looks like. (sniff)
Okay, well, that kind of brings you up to date with our lil man and whatever else is going on. Have a marvelous Lime Green Thursday!
Baby Steps
07.08
Well it’s happened! On Sunday afternoon Qade took his first genuine official first steps!! He’s pretty thrilled with this new talent! I was rather proud of him myself. He took several “practice” steps to lunge from one piece of furniture to another, but then once he decided he could do it, he started taking steps just to be stepping. The first few times, it was hilarious, he kept his arms straight up over his head for balance. It was too cute!! At one point he walked all around the livingroom and finally stopped in the middle of the floor, and got so psyched out that he started laughing hysterically, I was laughing with him too, and he finally had to sit down cause he was laughing so hard.
Well, we got started on our road trip with some baby steps of our own. Monday morning, we got a later start than we planned, but it still all worked out well. We got to Salt Lake last night around 7:30. Qade was ready to be out of his carseat for sure once we got here, but he had been a trooper with all the driving. There is a cute little park with lots of grass and some play equipment not far from the church we were staying at, so once we’d had some dinner we took a strole to the park and let Qade play. He walked some more on the grass, uphill even! The texture of the grass (and it was great grass too!) was a novelty for our little Arizona boy, but I think he liked it! He has a little grass rash on his legs today though. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to give him a good bath this evening.
Right now we’re on the road again headed toward Idaho and our ultimate destination for the day MONTANA!! Fun fun fun! We’re planning to do a midweek service for the church of the folks that we stay with tonight. I think it’s actually going to take place in their backyard! How fun! We get to drive through some really pretty country today for sure! The mountains in Salt Lake are amazing, and it just gets pretty-er up in Montana, and Idaho is always so green! It’s fun to watch the landscape change as we go. Especially going from the dry high desert of AZ to the lush farmlands of Idaho, to the towering mountains in Montana. It’s awesome! Today Qade has 4 staff members riding with us in the Yukon to keep him company. He just loves to “yack” at them. It’s too cute to watch him have conversations with everyone and anyone. I’ll try to post some pictures on here from our fun park outing and Qade walking tonight. So stay tuned…..
More Signs
06.12
Hey everyone! Just me again here with a plug for baby signs. Qade has been doing so well with his. He knows “please” “more” “thank-you” (this one is soooooo cute! His “Aunt Rachael” helped him learn this and he also “says” it with the sign. It sounds pretty convincing to me) and of course “bye-bye.” I’m going to start on UP and DOWN with him so that he can begin to communicate what he wants. It has been so amazing to see how it cuts down on the fits and frustration for him. Example: today at lunch he wanted his snack cup with the goldfish in it and it was just out of reach, so he started to fuss, and I asked him to say “please” and it immediately stopped the fussing. He just asked nicely and I helped him. Sometimes I don’t even have to say the word, I’ll just ask him, “What do you say?” and he’ll say please. It’s awesome! This summer I also want to work on the words “food,” “milk” and “drink” (which we will use for juice, because the one for juice is kinda hard) and I think “mommy” and “daddy” and “baby” we will work on some as well. He’s in a very mimicking stage right now so it’s very easy to get him to do the signs. And like I said, it cuts down on the frustration on both ends when he can communicate what he wants/needs.