Adventures with Kaden

The last time it rained there were lots of big puddles everywhere.  Kaden was absolutely fascinated by the puddles and played and splashed in them until they were pretty well gone. He loves to be outdoors and loves water, or "wah-dee" as he calls it. He had such a blast.  I can't wait until we can find a pair of rain boots that come in his size.

Switching gears entirely, Kaden went in for an endoscopy a few weeks back.  We've been trying for months to figure out why he's not gaining weight (he dropped from his 15 month to his 18 month appt), has had rashes around his mouth after eating and just doesn't want to eat a lot of the time. We've gone to the GI, the allergist and had dozens of tests run- x-rays, upper bowel exams, blood work, allergy tests, etc…  We decided to have him do an endoscopy so they could see if his reflux was making things worse for him.  They also did a biopsy of his stomach when they went in.

 Kaden was such a good little patient.  He was extremely cooperative and the nurses all loved him.  He's just a really good-natured, easy going kind of kid.

 As soon as he woke up from the anesthesia he wanted Mommy and he wouldn't let me put him down.  He is not a snuggler, so I was basking in the moment. About a week after his endoscopy we got the results back from his stomach biopsy and Kaden has been diagnosed with "chronic gastritis."  Basically, his body produces too much acid and it's making it so his stomach is extremely inflamed and irritated, which explains why he isn't gaining weight and has had so many other problems.  Thank goodness for modern medicine! We would never have found this out without this procedure.

Switching gears again, we had the genius idea to take Kaden bowling for a fun family night. He loves balls and we thought he'd have a great time. Before we'd even finished our first frame he was bored out of his mind and was running all over the bowling alley, despite our best efforts to corral him.  We even let him have every single turn to roll the ball down the ramp thing.  That still didn't hold his attention. The guys next to us were pretty serious bowlers and even though they were nice, we could tell they were super annoyed with us because Kaden kept running in front of them when they'd try to bowl and running on their side of the lane.  Needless to say, we left by about the 7th frame because we couldn't take it anymore. Oh well. Maybe he'll like it better in a few years? Ha ha.

Mother's Day 2014

Curtis and Kaden did a little photo shoot for me for my Mother's Day gift. I couldn't help but crack up at the progression of the photos. Poor Curtis was honestly doing his best to get a cute picture of Kaden to give to me for Mother's Day. Kaden, however, is a most unwilling subject when it comes to sitting and smiling and looking at a camera. I think after all the other kids I've done pictures of, that my own child is the most difficult to photograph. How ironic! 

Ha ha ha! I love this! By the end, he's totally lost interest entirely. 

NYC Part 2

May 9

It was supposed to rain all day and somehow we lucked out. It still wasn't sunny, but it was at least not wet and slightly less cold than the previous day.  We rented bikes and rode around Central Park all morning.  I love Central Park! It's such an oasis in the middle of the cement jungle. I absolutely loved how beautiful it was, especially on bikes when you ride more to the top of the park, there's not so many tourists.

 Jackie Onassis Reservoir

At the Shakespeare Gardens

Curtis and I loved this fence! We decided to take a picture of it so we could remember it for some day when we have a house/yard/garden and we could put a fence like this around our garden.

After Central Park we had lots of fun exploring the surrounding area. We of course had to get a hot dog (or "haw-guh" as Kaden calls them) from a street vendor, along with a fresh juice smoothie. So overpriced, but so good! We walked by the LDS temple on accident.  I knew it was in Manhattan, but didn't think to look up where it was.  It just happened to be on our way to Levain's Bakery. 

Levain's Bakery… where do I begin? DELICIOUS!!!! We had lots of locals tell us to go there and I'm so glad we did. The line was long- out the door and down to the next shop, but it was worth the wait to go into this tiny little basement bakery for a giant cookie. It was like eating four cookies in one. I think everyone knows how much I love cookies, so this was a good stop for me for sure.

We went back to our hotel to change and get ready, then it was off to Ellen's Stardust Diner for some awesome grub, but an even more awesome show put on by the waiters and waitresses.  Curtis went there in high school and said it was super fun and it didn't disappoint.  Everyone that works there is trying to get on Broadway, so they wait tables and perform while they wait to get picked for a show.  It's really the most fun diner I've ever been to, as I've never had my waiter stand on the table next to me and sing while I'm eating before. 

For Christmas we asked the Fairbourns for tickets to go see the Lion King. Curtis and I have both always wanted to see it on Broadway and it was spectacular! It was at the Minskoff Theatre, just off of Times Square. The costumes were amazing and really ingenious, the set was incredible and the cast was so talented! Wow! It was seriously one of my favorite musicals I've ever seen.  I think next to Wicked, it's my second favorite. :)

Ah New York City! How I love thee. Such a fun day with my sweetie. 

May 10

We only had time to go to FAO Schwartz before we left that afternoon, but it was sure fun. We wanted to get Kaden a present, but instead we found the coolest birthday gift for him.  They had these toddler-sized workbenches that were normally $180 and they were on super-clearance for $30!!! What? Amazing. We got him a little dinosaur puzzle (that he loves, where you put the halves together), but we couldn't resist that work bench either, so we got both and we're going to save the work bench until his birthday. I'm so excited! 

Curtis also did a rather stunning rendition of chopsticks with his feet on the Big Piano, complete with a handstand towards the end. He was the only person that I saw getting applause after he got off. It was great! I wish I had thought to video it, but I only got still pics. He didn't forewarn me that he was going to be playing an actual song, as most people don't. :)

Our 5th Anniversary & NYC Trip Part 1

We celebrated our 5th Anniversary on May 7, 2014.  I can't believe it's already been five years! It's gone by so fast. Curtis is such a great husband and dad and I'm so blessed to have him in my life. 

We didn't really do a whole lot to celebrate the actual day of our anniversary, other than exchanging letters and having a nice breakfast together, since Curtis had to hurry and catch up on school work before our trip, he just worked most of the day on school stuff and Kaden and I hung out and had playdates as usual.

That night we got on a bus to NYC for a little getaway trip, just the two of us. NYC is about 6 hours south of Rochester.  We've been meaning to go since we got here...  The first year we didn't dare go with a super fussy newborn and we couldn't go in the spring last year since Curtis was studying 12+ hours a day for the CFA level 2.  This past fall we were out of money for a trip, which brings us to now. Even though he's studying for level 3 this year, we decided it's now or never. I found tickets on Megabus.com for both of us roundtrip for $33!!! I love a good deal. 

We got there May 8th around 6:30 am, and headed out to see the city.  Our hotel was nice enough to let us check our bags in before check-in time and even eat a free breakfast on them. (You won't hear me complaining.)  We wandered around Grand Central Station for awhile.  It's just so big and iconic, especially since so many movies have been made there, it's such a beautiful place.  

We headed over to see the Brooklyn Bridge.  We just watched the Amazing Spiderman 2 about a week ago, so it was fun to see where they filmed it.  I was a little disappointed that it was so rainy and overcast, because it made it hard to see the views, but even then it was still so cool!  

I loved the "padlocks of love" that we saw where couples engrave their initials on the padlock and then lock it to the bridge and throw away the key, to symbolize that their love will last forever. (Or until the city sends someone to cut the padlock off. Ha ha.)  Had we known about it in advance, we would have brought one with us.

We took a subway to ChinaTown, since neither of us had ever been there.  It was freezing cold and rainy, so I bought a yellow scarf in ChinaTown to keep warm.  

(Please ignore my crazy hair. It was straight when the day began and then got crazier and crazier as the day went on from all the rain and humidity…)

For lunch we had the most AMAZING soup-filled dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. To die for!  We also got Sesame Chicken and Rice and ate until it hurt. So worth it!

We explored Little Italy for a bit.  I loved these buildings there so much! How cute are they?

That afternoon we headed to the New York Public Library. It's such a lovely building! More like a castle than a library if you ask me.

They had a really cool exhibit about Why Children's Literature is Important.  Naturally, the teacher in me needed to see it.  We both loved it.  It was really interesting. I took a picture by the Goodnight Moon exhibit since it's one of Kaden's favorite books, and Curtis is a Wild Thing, so that one needs no explanation of course.

That night we went to Rizzo's Fine Pizza in SoHo.  Their salads came with homemade croutons- who knew something so simple could be so awesome?  Best pizza EVER! Seriously.  Don't even get me started on the dessert Nutella pizza… so yummy! I was on foodie overload from today, and loving every second of the Yelp research I had done on yummy places to eat.