Kaden 8 months!!! (and North Carolina trip)

Well, we are more in love with this flirt every day. He is such a happy, playful baby and truly brightens our life. Here are some details:

-No teeth yet, just an adorably gummy smile
-Not crawling yet, but does this 'pounce' thing when trying to get a toy…just picture samba from the lion king:)
-Loves avocado, beans, carrots, prunes, and almost all fruits
-Loves Pudding…made the mistake of letting him try some at Jasons deli the other day…he was hooked!
-Loves to play with balls and keys
-Loves to go on walks in the stroller and ride in the shopping cart
-When he gets excited he kicks his legs and shakes his hands…he's like a puppy wagging his tail
-When he is tired he will 'hum' himself to sleep
-Loves swimming! We took him for the first time at our hotel in North Carolina and he loved it!
-Loves being outside
-Crazy excited about animals, will grab fistfuls of their fur! Luckily, we've only encountered child-friendly dogs and cats so far.
-Babbles and shrieks, especially in church :/
-Loves to hang upside down!!! Daddy taught him this I think…
-Loves to be tossed in the air
-Has now learned to smile on demand (sometimes) for the camera
-Sleeps an average 10-12 hrs a night! but a Terrible napper…so I really don't get anything done during the day
-No stranger-danger yet! He smiles and coos at every new person he ever sees
-Super grumpy around 5 pm every night but then perks right up when daddy gets home at  7
-Loves to be tickled…is especially ticklish on his neck, thighs, and tummy
-When he is hungry and/or tired and wants to nurse he watches me with eyes glued on me and smiles and does a laugh/whimper to get my attention. He will also tug on my shirt which can be embarrassing.
-a traveling CHAMP! On our trip to N.C he slept the whole three hours of the flight--both there and back!

I really feel so blessed to be his mother. I'm so grateful for his healthy body and his happy disposition. Couldn't ask for more.

Now, a little about our trip: We flew out to North Carolina to check out the orthopedic surgery residency programs. We looked at Durham, Chapel Hill, and Winston-Salem. Mostly we wanted to see the housing, atmosphere, vibe, etc. What we found we loved! N.C. is stunningly beautiful and so very clean (compared to downtown houston, haha). We found some great neighborhoods we could potentially live in and they have lots of hiking and running trails. We hiked Hanging Rock State Park and it was gorgeous. However, the weather was colder than we had planned for so we had to make a pit stop at walmart. Well, with the unexpected cold, the store was sold out of most winter apparel. Kaden had to settle for a pink hat and socks as mittens. Everyone that we met told us what a pretty baby girl we had:) It will be a great story to tease Kaden about when he is older. We also walked around Salem Lake…it ended up being a 7 mile walk! Baby K woke up at like mile 2…he did good for awhile but it was a bit too long of a stroll out in the cold…I did the only thing that keeps him happy and sang and danced like a crazy person in front while Ben pushed the stroller. Kaden laughed and laughed and it held him over for the last few miles.

We made a point to stay in hotels that served free breakfast. The funny thing was that Ben LOVES continental breakfasts BUT every single morning we missed it! First of all, we slept in. But really, who closes their breakfast at 8:30?! and we missed breakfast all four days. EVERY day, four different hotels. haha you'd think we'd learn! So we just went to walmart, stocked up on oatmeal packets and hot chocolate. Dinner we went out to cheap restaurants but was REALLY disappointed. Houston's food scene really can't be beat.

All in all we decided that N.C. would be a dream place for residency. Are there some downsides? Sure...it is super far from family!! I guess we will just have to see after all the interviews are done. Who knows, I never before considered living in Texas and I've grown to love it. Maybe the future has some more surprises in store…

Thanks for reading!