Cade at 10 months

Cade is doing really well.  He is in daycare full time now and he is beginning to love it more and more. He still still has days where he will moan and cry if he sees me leave but most of the time his teachers distract him so that I can leave, although trying to do the same for Darian is harder. Seeing Cade socialise with other kids as well as the way in which he gravitates towards his teachers, warms my heart and assures me that he is doing well and is well taken care of. The other day he even waved bye to me as I left and the crying days are becoming fewer and fewer. Pick ups are so cute. He will automatically dash to the door when he sees me and will cry the minute he sees me, as if to say "where have you been all day?"

(Cade & Darian at daycare drop off one of the days last week. Cade loves to climb up onto these couches and sit like a big man. So Darian, the ever so-concerned big brother went to sit next to him in case he fell.)

Another little kid bit Cade while at daycare, it wasn't the best call to get from daycare and because they won't say which child it was we have to deal with him being in the same vicinity with this child all day but thankfully the teachers are keeping a close eye on said child and have supposedly given a stern warning to the parents. He has had a bite mark for about 2 weeks now, gone from red and scratches to just a blue hue.

(The bite mark on his cheek)

When Darian went for his dental check up, Cade got to have his teeth checked too and the dental therapist was very happy with him, especially the fact that he has been introduced to the toothbrush already. He loves to brush his teeth and will make a huge deal when it's over.

He has learned quite early on to say "mama" and I encouraged him to say "dad" which he continuously says nowadays! But he loves his daddy... will follow him all over until he picks him up and loves his brother too. He thinks Darian is the funniest person ever and is always behind him and wants to be involved in whatever his brother is doing. So I'm not sure if the "dada" is Daddy or Darian, maybe it's both!
He also loves to say "ta", whether it's him giving you something or wants something from you. And especially loves to try to feed his dummy to daddy and will say "ta" while he tries to stuff his dummy into daddy's mouth.

(Daddy and Cade at Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium)

He continuously is picking things up off the floor so we have to be really careful with things that could get stuck in his throat. And because he loves to be in Darian's room all the time, we have to always ensure it's safe. He responds to his own name and makes me laugh when he tries to kiss his own reflection, saying "baba". I will say, "Say hi to Cade" and he will look at his reflection and smile and say "baba" and even wave. If I say, "Give Cade a kiss" he will kiss his reflection. It's so cute.

He started walking, fully, at 10 months. From about 9 months, he started cruising around and would take a step and fall down, etc. But he was ready to walk. Up to that point, from the minute he learned to crawl he was trying to stand up, then trying to take a step. And now, trying to run! I'm sure he loves to do so because he wants to be with his brother all the time.

He still loves to eat and will eat anything you give him. I think he may be going through a growth spurt at the moment because he was up at 2am this morning and it took me about an hour to realise that he wanted a bottle. Even Cameron thought, maybe let's just see if he wants to cuddle and then a few minutes later said to me, "no, he needs a bottle". Then this morning, he had his cereal, toast and about 60ml's of milk before he stopped nagging and following me everywhere. I think he realises that mummy knows what he wants and will only come to me if he is hungry, wants his bottle or wants to sleep but Daddy is the go-to-man when it's play time. Typical!

He also had a bout of hand, foot and mouth disease, the week before he got bit (was not a good time for him). And even though he had red spots all over his mouth and on his bottom, he was still his happy, go-lucky self and never stopped smiling.

(Cade & Mummy the week he had HFMD - still smiling. Mummy had to stay home to look after him)

Darian's 4 year old check up

I don't know how the time has flown so fast but here we are, with a 4 year old little boy. He is doing so well and from today's B4 School Check, it's proven that my baby is gone and has been replaced by this amazing, wonderful and clever little boy.

So here in NZ kids start school when they are 5, most on the day they turn 5, although that decision is up to the parent. You have the whole year that they are 5 to decide when they start. Anyway, when they turn 4 they go for their final health check with Plunket (the national child care provider) as well as their final immunisations. We had his immunisations done a few weeks ago while we were on leave and with Cade being sick with hand, foot & mouth disease and also having a little cold while we were on leave, I've had to reschedule the B4 School check at least 3 times. But today we finally had it and I'm happy to say he passed with flying colours. So the nurse got him to recite the alphabet (he even knows the vowels - "a, e, i, o, u" he keeps repeating), he knows all the colours and he knows his shapes too. She was quite clever in that she got him to colour in a picture and while he did he started saying the colours out loud and of course, they were all his favourite. Then she got him to throw and catch a ball to test his reflexes and motor skills and then got him to build with some blocks, which of course he loved. The nurse gave me so many pamphlets to read up on, including healthy eating, parenting styles, etc. But I know I just have to trust my instincts with him. He's doing so well and is growing up so well. I trust God has him in the palm of his hands and that Darian is just going to go from success to success.

He is 17.7kg's and 106cm and is within the 50th percentile for both weight & height. Still a picky eater and will only eat the usual, weetbix, toast, peanut butter sandwiches, jam sandwiches, yoghurt or custard and of course his mummy's pancakes. He loves fruit though, apples, bananas, oranges and I hear at school he eats pears too. And loves milk, water and juice. And of course, he loves cupcakes and chocolate cakes with sprinkles! We do try to get him to try something new but he's a stubborn little fellow. He doesn't like fries anymore unless of course we go to a restaurant.
He has the best imagination and spends hours playing with his toys and creating these stories. I love listening to the stories he makes up with his trains and dinosaurs and animals! He still loves sea creatures and we still spend every weekend going to Kelly Tarltons. He got his dad to buy him a stuffed shark and of course I introduced him to "Bruce" from Finding Nemo so he replays the scene when Marlin & Dory meets Bruce and now knows the whole scene, verbatim! We laugh hysterically as we listen to him playing with all his little sharks and "Bruce" - "fish are friends not food" he screams, or "Anchor, Chum" or "pshht, he's really, pshht, a nice guy, pshht". So funny! Love my boy!
He still loves music and walks around the house with drumsticks, air drumming and pretending he's in a marching band. And even has his brother following him around and around the table, so they really look like they in a marching band. Only thing is Cade's just started walking so Darian goes way too fast for him!
He is learning Te Reo, Maori too. They have Te Reo books at school and he is constantly singing "Mahi Tahi Tamariki-ma" - don't ask me what that means but I know it's a good thing! LOL!
He loves playing with daddy and every day waits for daddy to come home from work and cries constantly, daddy play with me!!
I love the relationship he & his brother have and am beginning to see how close they'll be. Although, now that CAde is walking and into everything, we constantly hear "Mummy come take Cade" when Cade is in his room, playing with his toys. Or "No Cade" or "Stop it Cade". It's tiring, but it's so awesome.

So we've started makig enquiries at Huapai District School which will be the school we will be zoned for when we move to the new house and so we will start taking him for school visits from February next year. That scares me, my baby will be starting school soon. Where has the time gone?!