Furry friends

This week, we've been enjoying Cheerios (or Oatios, the organic equivalent), crafting, and the company of human and animal friends. Caden's favorite food is, unquestionably, Oatios. We now have to hide the Oatios box behind the other cereals, or he'll eschew his other foods and reach longingly for the Oatios on top of the fridge. Here, you can see our little guy, grinning and waving, showing off a mouthful of his favorite snack.

Caden has been spending a lot of time with our friends' pets lately. Last Friday, we all headed over to Jarrett's for Chinese takeout, Super Scrabble, and (especially for Caden) quality time with the kitties, Kaylee and Zola. Then, on Sunday, we joined Amy, Brian, and Owen at Suzanne and Keith's place to watch the Oscars and eat tasty food. Caden had a great time playing with his friend Owen and with Owen's puppy, Scooter.

Sharing with Owen

Puppy kisses from Scooter

Auntie Sally, Caden, and Bess

This week, we bid farewell to a wonderful dog. Bess filled Caden's visits to Grandma and Grandad's with gentle fun. We will all miss her greatly.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

This week, we've been celebrating Mommy's birthday. We began by spending Saturday and Sunday with Mark and Anne, then had more friends over for dinner and yummy desserts on the 21st. Caden's reactions to the festivities ranged from enthusiastic--he loves the balloons and crepe paper decorating the living room--to the destructive. His destructive tendencies emerged when we were having a late lunch at the Girl and the Fig restaurant in Sonoma with Mark and Anne. Just as Mommy raised her flute of fig royale to take a sip, Caden, quick as lightning, grabbed a bread plate and smashed it into the base of the glass, leaving Mommy with a baseless glass. Wow!

Fig royale, post Caden

Together in the Sonoma plaza

On Wednesday, several lab friends joined us at our place to celebrate with taco salad, desserts, and (for the night owls) card games. Caden enjoyed playing with his friend James and trying to grab Mommy's lit birthday candles. Yikes!

Yum! Cheesecake!

Randall and James

Piano Men

Video of the week

Caden's new favorite toy is his shape sorter. He can always manage to put the red cylinder in the proper hole and is working on the blue cube. Here's a video clip of the little guy playing:

Celebrating in Corvallis

In the last post, I described our journey eastward to celebrate Uncle Jerry and Auntie Misty's wedding in Missouri. In this installment, the celebrating continues with a roadtrip to Oregon for their reception in Corvallis. We drove north on February 1st and spent a few nights in Corvallis, then continued north to spend a couple of fun-filled and relaxing days with Mommy's college friend Martha and her two kids, Sofia and Conor. We headed south again on the 6th (stopping in Corvallis for a tasty lunch) and 7th, arriving home just in time for Daddy to leave for Boston on the 8th. Whew! Caden was a great traveler and used the many hours in the car to catch up on his sleep.

Corvallis Congratulations

Grandma Jo and Grandad Bruce hosted a fun-filled reception for Jerry and Misty in Corvallis. We celebrated their recent marriage with family, friends, feasting, and dancing. Somehow, Caden managed to stay awake and cheerful until almost midnight. He had a great time dancing, hanging out with family, and plucking the rose petals from his boutonniere.

Lookin' sharp with Great Uncle Jim

Yay, Auntie Misty!
Cozy with Cousin Meg
While in Corvallis, we happened--by sheer chance--to meet two good friends of ours, Anne and Karen, who were grad students with Daddy at OSU. They (and their two little ones, Finn and Fiona, respectively) were having lunch downtown, and we joined them for a bit. Of course, we had to line the kids up for a photo op. It turned into a comedy of errors, with babies sliding every which way, but Anne managed to get a good photo amid the confusion:

It was wonderful to spend time with family, including three of Caden's great grandparents. Of course, we very much appreciated the hospitality of Grandma Jo and Grandad Bruce.

Cozy with Great Grandma Jean

Smooches from Grandma Jo

Waving with Great Grandpa Curtis

A Break in Long Beach

One of Mommy's jobs before she started grad school was working on a project in Willapa Bay, Washington, and she traveled to the Long Beach peninsula many times to quantify the effects of invasive cordgrass on the marine ecosystem. She wanted to show Daddy and Caden the area, so we all headed up there for a few days after the festivities in Corvallis. We met up with Martha, a friend of Mommy's from Whitman College, and her two kids, Conor and Sofia, to explore the peninsula, play in the arcade, and marvel at Jake the Alligator Man and the other oddities at Marsh's.

At North Head lighthouse

Conor, Caden, and the crocodile

Reading with Conor and Sofia

Happy Valentine's Day!