Cade's Watch Me Grow

First pic in his nursery. I think this might have been the first time he was in his room. :)

1 month:

Wears size 1 diapers (almost size 2!)
Smiled at me at 3:30 in the AM around week 3. 
Eats every 3-4 hours
Likes to be moving, esp in the "magic swing"
Gets really hot and sweaty easily
Not a fan of his car seat 
Holds his head up for 6-8 seconds
Doesn't like a paci
No supplementing (yay! big difference from the girls!)
Weighs 12.3 lbs
Likes to be swaddled
Wrinkles his entire forehead when looking around

Cade and Trout. Our sweet old man Trout can't make it up the stairs to Cade's room. So thankful to have these pictures with Trout. Will take as many as we can get. 

A close up of our big boy.

 And for comparison, here are the girls at 1 month. Aubrey and Cade are pretty darn similar.

Kinsley at 1 month

Aubrey at 1 month

2 Months:
Size 2 diapers
13.5lbs
Had ultrasound of belly for projectile spit ups
Still on reflux meds
Giggled at mommy playing "Whatcha doing?"
Sleeping from 10pm-6am
Hates his car seat
Sleeping in swing
Busts out of his swaddle 
Still no paci
We'll take between 4-6ounces each feeding
Loves looking in the mirror at himself and Mommy

3 months:
Size 6-9 mos clothing
Size 3 diapers
Still on reflux but did not need to increase this month
Hates his car seat -caved and gave him a paci in the car. He sometimes likes it. 
Head control and body control improving. Can hold himself up for long periods of time. Still not standing when being held
Kicks like crazy. Constantly. Got a blister on his heel and toe from so much movement. 
Will make eye contact and smile and giggle only when HE wants to. :)
Still in swing.
Sleeps from 7p-6a
Likes to be swaddled but has always busted out by morning.
Eats about 6oz 5x/day
14.7lbs

4 months:
6-9 month clothing
Sleeps 6:30p-6:30am
Size 3 diapers
Rolled over back to front
Figuring out his hands and feet
Still in swing
Weighs 15.85lbs
Cooing and laughing often
Takes 6-8 oz breastmilk every 3-4 hours
Still not a fan of his car seat but does better on a full tummy. 
Still kicking constantly!! Track runner maybe??
Generally happy baby except when hungry 
Still on reflux meds but did not increase. Probably ready to stop. :)

Our last Watch Me Grow with Trout. We said goodbye to our sweet dog later that evening. 

5 months:
Belly laughs
Off of reflux
Size 3 diapers but getting ready to outgrow
6-9 months clothes
Can sit unassisted for 5-10 seconds
Rolls front to back and back to front (first time b to f was on beach
with the Hartzlers)
Eating rice cereal and has tried bananas
Slept in his bed all night last night
Sleeps 6:30-5:30 eats and then back to sleep
Grabs things and brings to mouth
Loves his feet!

(Picture to come - stuck on camera :))

6 months:
17.5lbs
9 months size clothing
Size 3 diapers
Sleeps in crib in sleep sack from 7-6
Has tried bananas, pears, apples, peaches, sweet potatoes
Pushing up on hands. Close to pushing up on knees. 
Getting good at scooting and rolling around the room.
Loves his jumperoo and toys. 
Very social and loves to smile and laugh.
Tri-pod sits for 10-30 seconds. 

(Picture to come - stuck on camera :))

7 months old:
18.3lbs
9-12 months size clothing
Size 4 diapers
Teething but no tooth yet!
Pushes up on hands and
knees and rocks like crazy. Sooo close to crawling. 
Pushes to sitting. Found him sitting up in crib a couple weeks ago. 
Was getting stuck in sitting position but recently learned how to lay back down. 
Can sit up indefinitely.
Says bababa. 
Blows raspberries. 
Enamored with his sisters and the dogs. 
Went on his first plane ride to Colorado and saw snow. 
Met with neurologist due to pupils different size, holding right arm back funny, sacral dimple, etc. also had ultrasound. All checked out fine! 

(Better picture to come - stuck on camera :))

8 months:
Crawling!! Started crawling in Port A in early Dec
Pulled up on 12/14/14. Kinsley was with him and yelled bc she was so excited. He started crying. :)
Size 4 diapers
9-12 month clothing
Says dadadada
Bottom two teeth are in. Top right on its way.
Prefers solids over milk :(
Has learned to click. 

9 months:
19lbs 2 oz (25%)
29 5/8 in (50%)
47.6 cm head (90%??)
On the move!! Super fast crawler.
Pulling up and starting to cruise a bit. Likes to stand on his tippy toes. 
12 month clothing 
Size 4 diapers
Has 4 teeth. Two top two bottom. 
Likes to say Da! Very loudly. Will say it back and forth with you. Also making bababa sounds.
Will get very frustrated and "yell" at you if you're not paying attention to him and he wants attention. 
Lowered his crib. 
Loves to cuddle. Especially when I'm holding him and someone else is talking to him. Will act shy and bury his head in my shoulder. 

10 months:
Can answer "what does the doggie say?"
Can pat, pat, pat my back. 
Can say mamama and dadadada 
Cries when mommy goes out of sight and he's tired. 
Does not like solid food with any type of texture
Had pink eye (gave it to daddy)
Is crawling everywhere and into everything. 
Can stand in front of table and not hold on. 
Size 5 overnight diapers. Size 4 everyday. 
Size 12-18 months clothing. 
Breastfeeds 3-4x/day
offered 6oz bottle 3-4x/day. 

11 months
Can stand for 2-3 seconds
Super fast crawler
No more breast feeding :(
Very active - First trip (and second trip) to ER due to head bonk/vomiting. Ambulance ride too! Eek!
Eats 2-3 pouches per meal 
4-8 ounces per feeding 4-5x/day
Size 4 day diapers, size 5 overnight
12-18 month clothing
Sleeps 6:30p-7a
Naps 9:30-10:15a and 1:30-3p
Says uh-oh, mama, dada, and barks:)

12 months
29 3/4 inches tall
21.4lbs
Started eating solid foods! Yay!
Good at using his fingers to pick up his food
Waves bye-bye and night-night consistently
Started separation anxiety
Loves to cuddle and play shy
Size 5 diapers
12-18 month clothing but
pushing 18 months
Loves to be silly and then crack up laughing

Cade's Newborn Pictures

We were so pleased with Cade's newborn pictures. I was pretty pleased with his birth announcement too! We'll just not mention the fact that it took me 3.5 months to get them mailed out. Ah, the life of having 3 kiddos. Love these kids!

Cade's Birth Story

CADE FOSTER STRYKER

April 14, 2014
11:33AM

9.5 pounds

21.5 inches

Cade’s Birth Story

I had hoped beyond hope that Mr. Cade would make his appearance of his own free will. In fact, my doc said we could induce at 39 weeks. I remembered with the girls, Mayo would not induce until 10 days after my due date and Mayo never does anything without a good bit of research behind it, so I decided to do a little investigating to find out why “41 and 3” (41 weeks and 3 days) was the golden number. I spoke with a doc at Mayo who explained to me that their most current research was moving that number to 41 weeks because a high percentage (don’t know the exact data) of women spontaneously go into labor prior to this date. Spontaneous labor, as opposed to induced, has many benefits including less complications. Soooo… I decided to try to wait it out. My doc was on board but continually reminded me we could schedule that induction whenever I was ready.  Turns out Cade had no intention of coming out and we probably should have taken him out at 39 weeks because we had to force that 9.5lb toddler out of his comfy home by induction at 41 weeks.

On the morning of April 14, we were supposed to be at the hospital by 5AM. My dad came over to watch the girls once they woke up. My mom met us at the hospital and Louie got me all checked in. He had a meeting at work that he had organized and was leading, scheduled for 6AM (scheduled prior to my induction being scheduled) so my mom hung out with me for a while before he made it back. It worked to his advantage that they had trouble getting my IV started. They finally got it after the 4^th try, and the bruises on the failed attempts started to show up immediately. Ouch! Louie made it back just before they started the Pitocin.

Not long after that Dr. V stopped by, examined me (I was at about a 4 – not in labor) and broke my water. We started my epidural with no problem but within about 10 minutes we had our first excitement of the day. My blood pressure had taken a nosedive and I was feeling really awful. I was very nauseous and light headed, and felt like I might pass out. The nurses moved quickly by laying me flat, giving me some oxygen and I think a shot of something. It’s all a little blurry.

After a while, I started feeling better but I was very nervous that was going to happen again. I was in charge of my own pain medication. They had my epidural attached to a pump so I was supposed to hit the button anytime I was in too much pain, but I was gun shy. I think I pressed it once right before beginning to push. The epidural was strange because the outside of both of my legs were completely numb and felt “fat” but I could feel everything else. Having numb outer thighs was not going to help the whole giving birth situation. 

I was starting to feel some pretty intense pain with every contraction so I had the nurse check me. I was at about a 7 and said she’d be back in half an hour. I told her that I thought this was going to happen fast so she should come back in fifteen. Ten minutes later, after quite a bit of breathing through contractions, I had her come back and it was go time… like seriously go time. He was coming out. They paged the doctor whose office was across the street from the hospital and he came running, literally. My mom was just outside the room and the nurses were discussing who was going to “catch the baby” if the doc didn’t make it in time. She was wondering if she could volunteer. J A minute later Dr. V came sprinting by and it was only about 7 minutes later that Cade was here.

I have to say that this was my most painful labor, probably for two reasons. 1- my epidural was not really doing its job because I was not pressing the button and, 2- Cade was gigantic. There was a little concern with shoulder dysplasia, but my doc did a great job of coaching me and telling me when and how much to push so we could get him out without complications. He held him out in front of me and I knew right then he was bigger then my other two. I remember saying, “he’s huge!!” over and over. They put him right on my chest and Louie and I were immediately overcome with joy. Our baby boy was here and he was healthy.  I didn’t keep him on my chest long because I wanted him on a scale. He was a healthy 9lbs 8oz and 21.5 inches long.

I was still concerned about hemorrhaging since I had with Aubrey so they continued to check me and watch for bleeding. At one point there was a little more than the nurse was comfortable with so they gave me a shot. A lot of the “outer thigh epidural” had worn off at that point so that one hurt! All ends well though because recovery went very smoothly and our little Cademan (so named because one of the nurses actually thought I named him Cave instead of Cade, hence Cademan) is really an angel. His sisters were in awe when they met him and they love him to pieces. He makes them laugh all the time and now that he’s approaching 4 months, they’re making him laugh too. I truly feel like our family is complete… whole. I’m so in love. J

This was me at about 36 weeks. It's exactly the outfit I wore to the hospital the morning of just 5 weeks bigger! :)

On my chest just after he was born.

Showing off his strong lungs.

Getting his first bath.

Daddy holding him for the first time.

Checking him out in his warmer.

Nice and cozy. 

A selfie in the delivery room after everything calmed down. :)

The girls meeting their baby brother.

Kinsley was in awe.

Aubrey telling me how Cade has a paci and she used to have one too.

Coming in for a closer look.

Getting "Big Sister" stickers.

Kins holding Cade for the first time.

She was so proud.

Aubrey's turn. Kinsley was in love. :)

Uncle Andrew's turn.

Papa decided to poke him a bit and make him cry. :)

Now Nena

Daddy and his two youngest.

Uncle Bub and his family stopped by.

Grampa Marcus

Mimi actually got to hold him in the delivery room just a few minutes old. :)

Shorty and G weren't far behind. :)

Time to go HOME!