What did you mix with my green beans!?!

I tried to sneak some tofu into Cadence's pureed green beans recently, thinking she wouldn't notice...

Adventures with Dad!

It had rained a lot that day and the small foot paths were very muddy and slippery. As we were leaving the village, after showing Cadence off to our friends, an older friend said,"This way is better." What an adventure it became when faced with this stream of water and a very skinny bridge to cross. Had I been by myself, no problem. But I must say I hesitated a bit before embarking across this skinny bamboo bridge with my 6 mo old Cadence Grace. Then adventure filled my bones and Cadence was a real trooper. Close your eyes Grandparents!

Finger paint

Cadence enjoys her baby food. She loves the brightly colored carrots, green beans and vibrant purple sweet potatoes. She puts her fingers in her mouth and uses them to "paint" her chair, table and body.

She wants a "high-5" from Daddy when she eats everything in her bowl.

Never wake a sleeping baby!

We are in the process of moving to a new house so Cadence is learning to sleep wherever we are. The other day I put her down for a nap on top of some blankets and sheets I had just taken off the bed to be washed. She looked so sweet and peaceful sleeping that I got my camera to take her picture. The flash must have woken her up.

Then she went back to sleep so I tried again. That was a mistake!

Cadence danced like crazy when Mariani was playing the guitar and singing her name so as usual
I grabbed the camera to video and all we got was a little bitty shake! She loves to smile in the camera
but performing is a different thing. This video is from January.

Cadence's first visit to the beach

We shot this in January, the week we arrived. I wanted to post something more recent but Jody insists on starting with the oldest videos and moving toward the more recent so that the grandparents don't feel left out.

Cadence loves to get her hands and feet in the sand. Lately she just really enjoys getting down to check things out as opposed to being held all the time. She's still not crawling, but is creeping. I guess she is officially a Creepy-Crawly!

My baby dress

This is what Cadence looks like in my old baby dress.

This is how happy she was to wear it...better reaction than I ever got when I put it on my baby dolls!

Village People

We spent the day in the village yesterday visiting friends. One of my friends had a baby a month after I did so Cadence had someone her own age to play with. She loved it!

Oops. Missed my mouth, but I did it myself!

I have a friend I call "Fun Mom" and her kids are the "Fun Havers". She is the one you see in a restaurant laughing at her 8 month old "Fun Haver" for flinging a spoon full of pureed carrots across the room. "Fun Mom" doesn't hide out at home during the preschool years, waiting for them to end and for her children to become more socially acceptable. She actually goes out in public, knowing that one of the "Fun Havers" is more than likely going to poop in his pants (or on hers) and she will not humiliate him even though he has been potty training for more than a year. "Fun Mom" is quick to laugh at life's absurdities and slow to scream at her "Fun Havers". She doesn't threaten them with statements like I made today, "If you pull Mommy's hair one more time, I'm going to pull yours." I want to be "Fun Mom"...but it will have to wait until I am less stressed out from life and my little "Fun Haver" lets me sleep for 8 hours straight. That's my problem, isn't it? I have to choose to be "Fun Mom" today even though I don't feel like it. My little "Fun Haver" deserves a "Fun Mom".

Daddy & Daughter Time

Daddy and Cadence enjoy their mornings together before Mommy wakes up. I caught them enjoying the WORD together.

Daddy is also teaching Cadence to play the guitar!

Cadence and her first time eating some solid food, organic rice cereal. That was back in January after we first arrived home in Asia. Ever since that day she has made the exact same face EVERY MEAL THAT SHE EATS! I practically had to trick her into every bite by smiling at her. She loves smiling and she forgot each time that when she would crack a smile I would shove food in her mouth.