The Essence of Cade

One rainy, thunderstorm day this summer the cousins were going crazy at Grandma Gourley's house during a family BBQ. The ever lenient grandma decided to let the kids out to play in the water.

And they were off...





...creating the memories that childhood summers are made of.


Running




Tackling (Thank you so much, Uncle Chris for teaching my son this. Myself, and his nursery friends' moms, will ever be grateful)





and laughing...





while everyone else watched from the deck.


There was chasing



some new tricks


and occasional short rests to catch one's breath.



The fiasco was ended with loves all around.




And somewhere in the midst of the fun, I snapped this photo of Caden--one of my very favorites I have of him. It captures the very essence of my son. A big smile, tousled sun-bleached hair, mischievous raised eyebrows (a trait he inherited from the Schow-Barker side), on the move, and just glancing, for one small second to make sure his mom is watching.

Tight Squeeze

Caden's new thing is to give me a "tight squeeze." He wraps his arms around my neck, laces his little fingers in my hair and squeezes.

I had no choice but to document it. After all, it's not going to last forever. Sigh.












Using a camera timer with a 2 year old. We race to push the button.



Lest you think my 2 year old is adorable all the time, this is the meltdown and mess that occurred 30 seconds later.

Busy day!

Today was Caden's first trip to the dentist! His mouth has been hurting so we went to check things out. The dentist asked if I needed to hold Caden in the chair, but I assured him Caden would be fine. Then I whipped out my camera as any proud first time to the dentist mom should.



The dentist informed me Caden's teeth look great, but his top molars are coming in. I thought they'd come in a few weeks ago with his bottoms. No wonder he's been waking up at night and telling me all day his mouth hurt.
Caden was so somber about it. The nurse and I kept encouraging him, "you're doing so good...what big alligator teeth...wow, what a great boy...you are so brave..." and he wouldn't say a thing. Finally in the car I kept repeating those same things, and he'd answer every time, "Yes."


You're such a good boy.

Yes.

Mom is so proud of you.

Yes.

After that we dropped by the park to see a few friends.



Alisa, Finley, and Caden


Alisa is a friend we only know through playing at the park, and today her nanny brought tupperwares of fresh fruit for the kids. Is it awful that I let Caden eat food from a stranger? What about if I tell you I ate it too...does that make it better? or worse?

The fun was far from over. We picked Chad up from school and headed straight to Disneyland. All week long we'd been talking about going back there and Caden was super excited. He kept asking me over and over all morning if it was time to go. As usual, the happiest place on earth did not disappoint.


The great thing about having a season pass is that our trips our so relaxed. Like today, we didn't get to ride Peter Pan, but no worries--we'll be back there Monday to take care of unfinished business.


Now Caden sleeps, Chad studies, and I sit on the couch and eat ice cream. To each his own.