Camera shoots

Taking still shots of Caden can be an art form in itself. As if that
was not enough to work with, we must work fast enough to actualy get
the still shot without Boone stepping in to show off his good
side. ;) And let me tell ya, he is always showing off his good
side. :) LOL

Sippy cup part 2

I just realized that I posted two of the same "sippy" photo's. So
here is truely a second photo of his expression after realizing it is
not what he thought it was :)

So darn cute, he is!

First sippy cup

Not sure what this is, but he's giving it a try anyway.

Tanned in Fatherhood

Baking in the sun
Under the Big Whites, blowing bye
Rain for another day
One catching the scent of anything, going bye
One sleeping in the quiet, oh my
All three Boys enjoying this beautiful day
Until the next day, good bye

Happy Friday

Today is my last Friday on Paternity Leave. I am really really bummed out that my daily 24x7 time with Caden is no more. Although I love and miss work, I will miss playing with Caden, taking late morning and afternoon walks, going to the grocery stores and showing him all that is out there as he soaks it all in, as the little cute sponge that he is. But I must remind myself to cherish this time we had and that the next chapter in our lives will be just as exciting if not more. Though I will sneak in some PTO days and have Caden, Boonie and Daddy Tony days. Ok, we'll let Lady Catherine join us a few days ;)

Poison Oak update. After a suggestion from a friend last night to use Lavender on my skin to help sooth the PO, I am a believer! I rubbed pure Lavender on prior to bed and I feel great this morning! No itching last night, the best and only good sleep I have had since Sunday and I must admit, it was nice falling asleep to the lavender scent.

Caden is reaching out! Lady Catherine and I have noticed that Caden has started reaching for his toys when he is lying in his jungle gym. So with that I started giving him a toy when ever he is in his chairs, that includes his car seat. Well yesterday as we drove around handling our chores, all I could hear was him playing with his toy (plastic keys on a key ring) in the back seat and it was music to my ears. It was interesting to watch him in his car sear via my rear view mirror as he purposely leaned forward to reach, grab and handle his toy. Now this morning as Lady Catherine read to him, he was reaching out to grab the pages of the book. :)

Running with Caden. Yesterday Caden & I walked a couple miles on the trail with Caden in his Bob Revolution and I am confident that he is comfortable and secure in it and it so now it's time to take him running. We'll try today if the weather holds as we have some rain right now. But I need to get out there as I lost much training days this week due to the Poison Oak. Ever run with PO? It spreads more with the sweat. I am planning on running three races this year, two marathons and a half marathon. So Caden is going to get some great running time in with both of us. Yes, Lady Catherine is going for a half this year... glad to see her back! :)

Happy Friday!

Catch Up

It's 6:30 and I've been awake for an hour and a half. Could be for a few reasons, 1) I had a very good night of sleep as Caden didn't wake us at all last night, until 5am, 2) my poison oak is bothering me to the point of restlessness, 3) stress that I have to go back to work next week and miss 24x7 time with my son or 4) that I took my Methylpred for the poison oak and it is keeping me awake. Well either way it gives me the chance to catch up with a few items this morning. I was considering going out for a run but the thought of sweating and causing my poison oak to spread was not a pleasing thought at all. :( I am posting some old and new pictures of The Little Man to our picasa site, I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

I reacted to the Poison Oak while in the foothills on Sunday for an evidence search at a crime scene, articles 1 & 2. Other than what the articles say, there is nothing I am allowed to share.

But now I spend my last week with Caden wearing long sleeve shirts when ever I interact with him and medical gloves when I change his diapers... :( oh hum bummer. But that has not stopped us from having fun together! :)

Caden and I returned the Bob Ironman stroller for the Bob Revolution this past week. Already we like the difference of having a swivel front wheel versus a static front wheel. Both strollers ride very very smooth and very very easily but having the swivel made a HUGE difference in turning, even the slightest turns, while on walks. We'll continue to walk with the stroller and maybe by next month I can run with him in it, has he grows just a bit more.

Speaking of growth, Caden is! Our last Dr. appointment two weeks ago he weighted in at 16 pounds and a length of 26 inches. His original weight was 17 lbs and length of 21 inches. Last week we put him in his saucer and his toes could barely touch the bottom as he stood, yesterday I noticed his toes were clearly touching and then some. Boy, Mom sure has some good milk there! :)

(itch..itch..itch)

A couple weeks back I had a fun Triage exercise and it was held at a team members ranch. A beautiful ranch in the SouthEastern hills of San Jose. I took a few pictures of the ranch but not of the training. Why? Well becuase I was busy training, very busy :) It was a lot of fun and brought some interesting factors into my mental training, meaning things I have to think about in such an event that I haven't thought about in the past. Now a days as I sometimes lead teams in a search I have to think of some management type deciscions that a ground pounder would not have to be too concerned with. For example, how many teams/ppl are needed for assistance, what devices should I call in to extract ppl (helo, stokes, etc), where to find a landing place for a helo, keeping an overview eye on the status of all subjects, etc etc.

Ok too much coffee and now I am starting to blab... off for a Boonie walk.

Caden's first visit to Mom's work

Happy Caden

It's been a fun and relaxing Friday for us. Lady Catherine is working from home today and although she really is working we are happy to have the time with her. She is feeding Caden all day, so no bottles and this gives me a bit more time to address other items around the house.

I had a large window of time, rare, to get some shopping done. So Caden and I drove over to REI and picked up our new stroller, a Bob Ironman stroller. After months of research through reading online forums, trade rags, Moms and Dads in the parks and viewing them online and in the stores, we felt that the Bob Ironman was the choice that best fits our lifestyle. We do more walking and running than shopping so the stoller needed to cater to that as well to the comfort of Caden and the comfort of us running with the stroller. Once at REI I loaded Caden into the stroller and headed out into the clothing isles and found the stroller was remarkable in getting around and through the clothing racks. We really didn't need a swivel wheel and I think I just proved it. We then proceeded down a long hall in which I ran down it and it was SMOOTH! Damn that is one smooth ride. Once we arrived home I showed Lady Catherine how to unfold it and she proceeded to run down our driveway with a sack of dog food to use as weight in place of Caden, who was in the house sleeping. She liked it and I knew she would :) b/c my research was well worth the weight.

I was hoping to get a run in today with Caden, today is a maintance run for me and I need to get another 6 miles in to reach 22 miles for the week before I do 11 on Sunday, but Caden is sound asleep and I don't want to wake him. We'll go for a short run afterwards. But I was able to use the down time to relace my new running shoes with a parallel lacing system in order to take some pressure off the top of my foot.

We spotted a new Hummingbird nest in our yard. The birds made a small compact nest in the Redwood tree and it appears to have been created along the side of a branch. I have the video camera on a tripod perched in the yard and hope to catch a live feeding. If I do, I'll post the video online.

Speaking of online video, I posted two video's of Caden and don't recall noting them on the blog. They are dated back his second day and to to 2 months of age. :) You can view them here.

Happy Friday!

Stretching out

Caden had his four month checkup last Thurs. He is a healthy growing
little boy! Now weighing 16lbs and measuring 26 1/4 inches.