Kade These Days

I thought I'd use this week's post to do an update on what Kade is like these days.

He's still into basketball but he doesn't wear his basketball shoes every waking moment anymore because we made the mistake of cleaning the bottoms and now they squeak. He's not a fan of the squeak no matter how many times we tell him squeaky basketball shoes are a good thing.

He loves to ride his 4 wheeler, tractors and bicycle. I have to admit, he's already probably a better driver than I am. The kid can drive in reverse like it's nobody's business!

He's been speaking in full sentences, make that paragraphs, for a long time now but everyday he amazes me with his enormous vocabulary. And, maybe it's because I'm his mom, but I think he speaks very clearly for a 2 year old.

He loves every sport he's introduced to. He must have some amazing athletic genes because he seems to be a natural athlete. He catches on quick and sometimes throws a better spiral than his dad!

He's shy. Very shy. As in shy around people he sees multiple times a week! As in hides when he sees strangers and sometimes cries when he sees people he knows! It takes him about 5-10 minutes to warm up, unless we're around a big group then he's content to just observe.

I read somewhere that kids who cried a lot as babies (ahem, Kade!) will grow up to have deeper voices. How they know that, I have know idea. Could be a bunch of bologna but so far Kade is proving the theory correct. His voice is pretty deep for a 2 year old!

He's still in diapers and probably will be for awhile. He's just started to request a new diaper after he pees but has no desire to go in the toilet. I have him in underwear as I type this, hoping he'll like the feel of them and want to start wearing them full time. We'll see.

He's been in a big boy bed since last fall but just this past Saturday got out of it on his own for the first time ever! So far he's only crawled out after he wakes up, which is fine. However, he seems to be waking up earlier and earlier! Today my cute, little alarm clock came in at 6:01.

He prefers milk or water, still not a big fan of juice. No complaints there!

He's still a great eater but he also has a fantastic sweet tooth. We can't tell him he has to eat something or there's no dessert because at the first mention of dessert he immediately pushes his plate away and declares he's done.

He's starting to do longer periods of imaginative play on his own but still prefers our company. Mainly dad's company but mom will do if no one else is available :-)

He's getting big and I'm already wishing he'd stay like this forever. Time really does fly.

It's time to renew our adoption application. Every year we have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, resubmit an application and meet with our social worker in order to remain eligible to be on the waiting list. People are always surprised at how much goes into the adoption process. It's an amazing experience but its not for the faint of heart! Luckily we don't have to pay the fee again, that's just a one time deal.

Erik and I kind of struggled this year. We have had such a wonderful experience with Kade's adoption. Our dreams have literally come true in Kade and we couldn't ask for a better birth family. Our fear is that, if we get chosen, the next adoption won't be as amazing. Do we really want to push our luck? Anyone that knows our story knows that luck was not on our side when it came to building our family!

What if our next birth mom doesn't want any involvement? How do we explain that to a child when his/her big brother has such a great birth family? What if we bring a baby home and the birth mom changes her mind and takes the baby back? How do we explain that to a very bright 2 year old who doesn't forget a thing? There are a lot of unknowns and anyone who knows us knows that we are PLANNERS! :-)

On the other hand, I would feel guilty if Kade grew up without a sibling. I know being an only child is not the end of the world but coming from families with brothers and sisters I can't imagine not having a sibling. And, I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't mind a daughter :-) Of course I'd be over the moon if I got another son too! I always planned on having 3 kids (2 boys and a girl). Ha ha ha, that just makes me laugh now! What is that saying? You want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans?

So, in the end, we've decided to give it the ol' college try for 1 more year. If we get chosen that would be wonderful!, amazing!, fantastic! And if we don't get chosen that would be fine too because Kade has fulfilled our dreams and filled our hearts with more love than we ever thought possible.

Here's a bunch of random pictures. I had to include a picture from the Historic Snowfall of May 2nd. When I wrote last weeks blog I had no idea what we were in for! And I'm including a picture of our latest "toy" :-)

Spring Time in MN

You'd think by the title for this post that I mean green grass, trees budding, and sun shining. No, no and no. It's May 1st and snow is on its way. Lots of it. An accumulation of it. Mother Nature really has something against us this year. Thankfully she gave us a teaser this weekend so we were able to clean out the garage.

Kade and I backed the truck out and have turned our at-the-moment-very-clean-garage into an all purpose room. He's been bouncing from one activity to the next, in about 30 second intervals. Man, this kid is busy! He shoots a basket then yells, "BIKE TIME!". Rides one lap then yells, "4 WHIDDER TIME!". Backs up the "4 whidder" (he hasn't quite mastered the L sound yet), then yells, "TRACTOR TIME!" Scoops up some imaginary horse poop then yells,"BASEBALL TIME!" All the while, I sit on the bench, get tired just watching him, and drink my coffee. Life is good :-)

I even managed to snap a picture of the elusive Kade at rest! He's like a hummingbird, can never sit still for too long. Fear not, he was back up and moving .2 seconds after the photo was taken.

A couple weekends ago we made the trek up to Minnetonka to visit Jay, Jenna and Violet. When we planned this weekend get together, back in February, we figured we'd go to a park, play in the yard, possibly have a bonfire. Mother Nature had a good chuckle at our expense because she provided us with about a foot of snow, canceling any outdoor plans we thought we had! So, instead, we played basketball, watched basketball, went to a gym to play more basketball and snuck in a quick dip in the pool. Violet, who is now crawling like a champ, couldn't get enough of watching The Kade Man play B-ball. She could be his biggest fan!

It was also her first time swimming in a pool. Since Kade is an old pro he showed his little cousin the ropes. After her initial shock she seemed to like it! I think it might be time for these 2 irresistible cuties to talk their G&G H into getting a pool :-)

Some pictures from the weekend. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Kade playing BB in the gym. He was hanging with some older kids while they played Lightning, loving every minute of it! And, of course, I was behind the camera so everyone got in a picture except me! Oh darn, next time :-)

Swimming Lessons

Kade started swimming lessons last week. Surprisingly he cried for the first 10 minutes of the class! He's never cried when swimming so we couldn't figure out what the problem was. Finally, I realized what was wrong. The water was cold! He's used too swimming in Papa Rich and Grandma Holiday's pool, which is usually set at a comfortable 93 degrees :-) Needless to say, this middle school pool was not that warm!

After he got used to the temp he was his usual fish-in-the-water self. At the end of the class he was crying again, because he didn't want to get out!

Kade also had a more pleasant surprise when he got to class...."My-Friend-Michael" was there! School is always more fun with friends and swimming lessons are no exception. Those 2 goofballs were already laughing and not paying attention to the teacher, looks like they'll have to be separated when it comes to the real thing :-)

Just had to include this Kade Quote from this morning:

Kade: "Mom, I need my shirt off because basketball players don't wear shirts."

Me: "You need to wear a shirt because it's too cold."

Kade: "Other basketball player's mommy's don't tell them to put their shirts on."

(Shirt is off now--his doing, not mine)

Kade: "Mom, I need stamps on my arms."

Me: "Stamps on your arms?! Why??"

Kade: "Because basketball players wear stamps on their bodies!!"

Oh dear, looks like I have a tattoo battle in my future!!!!

This is a video I took a couple weeks ago of Kade and, as Kade refers to him, "My-Friend-Michael".  These 2 crazy kids are getting so big, I can't believe how fast time flies.  Seems like just yesterday we were making sure they didn't tip over when we sat them up.  Now they walk over to each others front doors all by themselves, ring the door bell and ask to play!

It's been awhile since I've posted Kade Quotes.  Every day he says the funniest things and, of course, I don't write them down!  Here's a few I can recall off the top of my head:

Kade was slapping my butt and I said, "Hey! Stop hitting your Mommy!"  He responded, (In his sweetest Baby Boy voice) "No, A's my birth mommy."  (In his deepest, "scariest" monster voice) "You're my MAMA!"

Kade was telling me about the garden he's going to plant.  "I'm going to plant 'matoes, potatoes and meatballs."

If we have plans for the next day and Kade isn't going to bed very well I always tell him, "The sooner you go to bed the sooner tomorrow will come".  One night he was over tired, worked up and wouldn't stop crying or lay down to sleep and the next day he was going to spend the day with Grandpa and Grandma H on the farm.  I went back into his room for the millionth time to help him settle down and in between sobs he said to me, "You need to go away and stop talking to me so I can go to the farm and talk to Grandma and Grandpa!"

Easter 2013

Kade had been counting down the days til he could play basketball with Daddy, Uncle Michael and Uncle Jay in the Alumni Tournament in our hometown. Saturday the day had finally arrived and he woke up at exactly 6:05 asking if the gym was open yet. The first game wasn't until 10:00 so about every 5 minutes, for about 4 hours, we answered, "Not yet" to the question, "Is it time to play basketball yet?"

We had a long day at the gym because Erik's team kept winning! Those old dogs still have some game left in them because, as the oldest team in the tournament, they ended up winning the championship! Of course, Uncle Michael did score half their points but who's counting? :-) If you ask Kade, Mike isn't the best player though...

BB player to Kade: "Hey big guy! Who is better Jay, Dad or Michael?"
Kade, without a moments hesitation: "ME!"

The Easter Bunny DID NOT come to our house. We locked the doors, turned on the alarm, and made sure Molly didn't get a wink of sleep. She had to be on guard all night in case the Easter Bunny tried to get in, her job was to chase it away. Kade did not want a creepy critter hopping around his house while we were all asleep. Luckily the Easter Bunny left strict instructions with me on how to execute the scavenger hunt and where to place the eggs so Kade still got the goods on Sunday morning!

Pictures:
1. Even though Molly was up all night, she still managed to help Kade hunt for eggs!

2. Putting the money found in some of the eggs in his piggy banks.

3. Listening intently to the final clue which led him to...

4. ...a new 4 wheeler! Look at that smile!

5. Easter Sunday at my parents where he never let Lauren rest. Here they are in the fort.

6 & 7. Well, I guess he did let her pretend rest :-)

8. A nice game of Memory, where Kade never lost!

9 - 12. On Monday daycare was closed so we had an impromptu play date with Owen, Ellie, Rylee and Braeden! We went out to their great uncle's farm to see some baby calves! We named the black cows, Blacky and the brown cows, Brownie. Those names are courtesy of Papa Rich, who you see behind the gate. Obviously he's got quite the creative mind when it comes to naming farm animals :-)