18 Months Old

9.4.11 Our Family celebrating my 31st birthday

I always keep saying that I am going to be better about keeping the blog updated, but I must admit, life has been pretty hectic the past 6 months! If I'm not chasing Kader around, it seems like there so many other things that I need to be doing rather than spending time on the computer! My daily planner is my lifeline in keeping up with all of Kader's developmental milestones. Speaking of which, he is a completely different baby than he was when I last updated in March, he is now a toddler!

He is a ball full of energy from the time he gets up in the morning until seconds before he goes to bed. He is extremely curious and has no fear! I told Kirk that if I could permanently place a neck brace and a helmet on him, I would feel much safer!! I know that boys will be boys and in the coming years we will have our fair share of bumps and bruises and even broken bones, but it still makes me cringe to think about it! Speaking of bumps, Kader skinned his knee the first time on May 7th....am I crazy for recording that?!?! I'm a little obsessive, I admit! Kader is running, jumping and even walking backwards. He is walking up stairs usually with a handrail or a hand, but if the step is low enough, he can climb up without assistance! He recently got a swingset that has a rock wall and he loves to climb up that and then slide down the slide and do it over and over again. He also loves to chase Bailey and Khaluah around the house. Once you open his bedroom door in the morning, he's looking for the "dah-dums." ( I have NO IDEA why he calls them this, but he also calls Tori's cat the same thing-so he's consistent with it!)

Kaders vocabulary has exploded from 4 or 5 words 6 months ago, to over 30 now! Some that I can think of include: Momma, Dadda, Nana, GiGi, DeDe, PopPop, Mema, Eat, More, Eye, Knee, Nite Nite, Thank You, Bye Bye, Bobby D (think he's saying PaPa Steve), RayRay, Lily, Boat, Dog, Meow, Moo, Tractor, Get Down, All Done, Yummy, Round and Round (for the wheels on the bus book) La La La (for the book Moo, Baa, La La La), Ei ei oh, Ball, Baked Beans, Bite, Ride. He will sing his ABC's (kinda mumble the sounds together) as well as Old MacDonald and the Wheels on the Bus (he has the book and LOVES it, until recently he tore it apart). When we are listening to the songs in the car, he will call out "Yeah" at the end of each song...so cute! Recently he will go to his room and say Ei ei oh and point to his CD player, which is my cue to turn it on and let him listen to his music. He is quite the dancer. He loves books, but has recently been bending them backwards on themselves which ruins them! I'm having to supervise his book time so that he doesn't destroy all of them. He loves to put things together and see how things work. He will definitely be like his Daddy and be good with his hands. He absolutely LOVES to be out in the shop with Kirk. (If we go outside for anything he makes a B-line for the shop) Kader will go to the stereo that is out there and will crank up the volume and start cutting a rug. He loves to listen to Kirks music (and any music for that matter) and dance around. His movements are so uncoordinated and out of rhythm, it makes for a pretty humerous sight!

At Kader's 15mo well baby check he was 23lbs 13.5oz (40%) and 32.5in (88%). He's tall and slender. Since our last update he's been back to visit his Immunologist with no new news on his fevers. We opted not to recheck labs at this visit since his fever's had remained stable. At Kader's 1 year appointment our Pediatrician suggested we see a Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist to see if they had any insight into his fevers. This visit unfortunately felt like a waste of time (and money!). They had no answers and almost made me feel like I've been overreacting to his fevers. The doctor said that when kids are acting fine, growing and developing normally that they don't worry and use a "watch and wait" approach. They redid a few labs which all resulted normally. I have stopped checking Kader's temperatures regularly because when I check them (appx 1x/wk) they are always between 100.4 - 101.0. We will revisit the Immunologist sometime in November and will redraw some of Kader's inital labs to see if his suspected immunodeficiency has improved. Kader also has his 18 month well visit later this week. I will try to post his most recent stats.


Below are snapshots from the past few months, most recent to oldest. Enjoy!

9.6.11 Kader's First Day of Playgroup at Johnston Memorial Church. It's about 5 minutes from the house. He had a great day and didn't even cry!! I was working so Kirk brought him and he did great. Coincidentially, Kader got a cold a few days afterwards.....it might be a long winter! ;-)

We had family down for Labor Day weekend to celebrate my 31st birthday. It was great to have a lot of the family in town to share my special day with. Naturally, Kader was spoiled the whole weekend!

9.4.11 Kader giving PopPop love

9.4.11 Grammy JoJo and PopPop willing Kader to cooperate!

Love this picture...Kader was trying to cooperate. He was slightly distracted by my lens cap and occasionally looked at the camera.

Grandpa and DeDe love their Kader

Kader sporting his Lil Buck Shot hat that Grandpa and DeDe gave him....seems that the grandparents can never visit and NOT bring Kader something! He's not old enough to know how spoiled he is!!

8.6.11 Kader LOOOOOOOOOOOOVES shoes! Actually, he's slightly obsessed! How cute is he in Daddy's boots?

8.6.11 Eating Pizza....he's appetite has really picked up in the past few months. He's definitely less picky, but is a textures kinda kid. He's really not into protein sources....ham, chicken, beef, etc.... We're able to get protein in other places though. He loves cheese and yogurt.

8.1.11 BEFORE Kader's FIRST Haircut! I loved my sweet baby's curls in the back, but had been told on a few occasions that he was developing a "mullet"--which I considered unacceptable ;-) So after much debate we chopped off Kader's hair.

Side view, before the haircut

Kader was ready to get his hair cut....such a big boy!

8.1.11 Our friend Allison does hair and was so sweet to let us come to her house to get Kader's hair cut. He sat so still and really did a wonderful job. It also helped that we had a juice box and fruit snacks to bribe him with!

8.1.11 Allison and Kader

7.20.11 GiGi rocking Kader to sleep at Lake Gaston. This summer we rented our friends' parents vacation house at Lake Gaston. My mom and sisters as well as Sylvia and Rachel, Kirk's neice were able to come up for the fun. Unfortunately, Kirk and I suffered from a pretty bad GI bug that left us vomiting and miserable for the majority of the trip....luckily we had help to take care of Kader AND no one else got sick!!!

7.10.11 GiGi playing with Kader

7.10.11 Kader loves books and reading

7.9.11 Cute picture of Rachael and Kader

7.9.11 Love this one

7.9.11 Kader mastering his climbing skills....he loves to climb on EVERYTHING!

7.8.11 Grammy Jo playing this little piggy with Kader

7.8.11

7.8.11 PopPop reading to Kader

7.5.11 A mohawk is a good look for him!

7.4.11 We spent 4th of July with the Talberts in Cary as well as a few other couples. We played in the pool and went down the slide. Kader loves the water!

7.4.11 Getting cleaned up after the pool. Which child doesn't fit in the picture....look at all the blonde headed, blue eyed kiddos! Kader was playing in the tub with Kyle and Kelsey-Kristy Thomas' kids as well as Lauren, Jenny's little girl.

7.3.11 Grandpa and DeDe stopped in for a short visit.

6.22.11 Kader in his tent, which has finally bitten the dust! Kader and the cats loved to play in it.

6.8.11 Sharon Harris

6.18.11 Daddy and Kader hanging out on the boat

6.18.11 Hanging with Lily and Ashlee

6.18.11 Kader and Lily were past their naptimes. Lily was being sweet and offering her soft bunnys ear to Kader. They both love to rub soft things under their noses. Lily and her bunny are inseperable.

6.18.11 Destined to be together?!?

5.10.11 Kader playing on one of Kirk's trailers

5.10.11 Quailty time with Daddy. Kader now knows how to turn on, crank and accelerate the 4-wheeler....we are gonna be in bad shape when he figures out/is strong enough to put it in gear! The 4-wheeler is currently his favorite "toy." When we are outside, he goes into the shop and gets on it and says "ride."

5.10.11 Tia (Aunt Allie) came to see Kader for a few days

5.8.11 Kader loves books!

5.8.11 Where is PaPa Steve's nose? Kader can accurately identify your/his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, feet, toes and belly button.

5.8.11 Imitating GiGi. Kader insisted that GiGi pick him and let him open and close the microwave.

5.1.11 Momma Ashlee reading to the babes after one of our "sleepovers." Since they live about 45 minutes away they will sometimes stay the night so that they don't have to wake Lily up to bring her home. We love having them over.

4.24.11 Couldn't get this to flip! We are at my mom's house celebrating Easter.

4.24.11 Kader's Easter basket from GiGi. He also got one from DeDe with just as much stuff....did I mention that he's spoiled?

4.24.11

4.24.11 Love this picture of the two of us

4.22.11 Kader visiting the Easter Bunny for the first time. Kader did great for the almost 2 hour wait to see the bunny. By the time it was our turn, he was over the whole experience! Thank goodness GiGi was there to help! He was cooperative for the first 60 seconds (while the photographer was preoccupied) and then after that was ready to go!!! This is a picture from my camera.

4.22.11 GiGi and Kader after visiting the Easter Bunny

4.17.11 Went to Williamston to visit Mema (Kader's new name for Sylvia) and Grandpa and DeDe before Easter.

4.17.11 Kader exploring

I hope everyone is doing well and as always, I will try to do better about keeping this blog updated more regularly!

Love to all,
Kirk, Tiffany and Kader