Races, Check up & Sitting up

Lots has been happening in Cadel's life over the past week. But first let's talk about how cute this kid is. I mean come on look at this picture on the left. I know I'm Dad so I should think he is the cutest thing ever but he pretty much is. Just wait until you get our holiday card. Then you make the call if he is not on top of the list of super cute six month olds.

So what did Cadel get for his six month birthday? Unfortunately it was his six month doctor's visit which included four shots. Ouch! He was not happy to say the least. The good news to come out of the appointment is even though Cadel is at the very low end of the weight range, 7th percentile, he is very healthy. He is 40th percentile for height. Tallish and lean. Starting to look more and more like Dad everyday. Well except for the tall part.
He also showed off his emerging crawling skills during his appointment. He is now getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. Not long before he is crawling. He also has two teeth coming in. Both on the bottom.

This past Saturday Cadel went to the San Francisco Bike Expo held at the Cow Palace. There was a bike fair, a cyclocross race and a freestyle bike dirt jumping contest. The cyclocross course was the most difficult one I've ever seen. The freestyle dirt jumps were about 20 feet tall. It was amazing to see the guys fly over them.

As you can see from the first picture Cadel is now sitting up unassisted and with very good posture if I do say so myself. In addition to sitting up and getting up on his hands and knees Cadel has figured out that he can get from one place to another by rolling over and over. He is also reaching for what he wants. His muscle control and coordination is very impressive. The coordination must be from Mom. Sure isn't from Dad.
To sum up Cadel's traits from Dad we have: eyes, body type and (it looks like) face & head shape. From Mom we have hair color, coordination and pretty much personality. We'll have to wait to see how he develops in the future to see if these aspects of Cadel hold true.

A San Diego Weekend

Cadel, Mom and Dad were all in San Diego last weekend for Emma Peddycord's first birthday party. It was a smashing success. A circus theme was in affect for the party and everyone, adult and child, had a great time. Her parents throw a great first birthday party especially with about 45 people in attendance.

Emma and Cadel got along very well. They even shared toys even though she is twice his age. The weather in San Diego was fantastic as always. I took Cadel to the beach a couple times as you can see from the pictures. The first time was with Emma and her dad. We lounged on the beach So. Cal style and walked around in the (small) waves a little. Cadel wasn't sure what to make of all seagulls or the waves but he seemed to really enjoy the beach.
The next morning Cadel and I took anther walk to the beach to see the big waves. It was high tide so we didn't get to walk on the beach but the view from up above was good as well. We stayed and watched a lone surfer try to catch a wave for about 10 minutes before finishing our walk around Solana Beach.

This trip was fun for all as Ryan and Jamie arranged for their baby sitter to come over on Friday night. This allowed the four adults to go out for a nice dinner. We went to the Samurai restaurant for some fun teppanyaki cooking. The meal was great as food and company were awesome. We called it a night after a quick swing by Basket Robins for some ice cream. Oh how our lives have changed in such a short period.

The trip was fun from beginning to end. Cadel even received several compliments on the plane rides for being such a good baby and not screaming like some other little passengers.

So bye for now San Diego. We'll be back again for sure.

Halloween Part Deux

This seems hard to believe but on Halloween there was a zoo keeper chasing a monkey who was chasing a banana. They were first spotted in Santa Cruz then again right in front of our house. This picture is proof. As it turns out the banana caught the monkey who was then caught by the zoo keeper. Very cute monkey don't you think? Even if he wouldn't smile for the camera.

Cadel's first Halloween started with a long drive down to Santa Cruz for Mom's first race back in action since Cadel joined us. The race was the annual Surf City Halloween cyclocross race. Race participants included pink dinosaurs, a salmon, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss members, a shark and all other manner of costume. Those were all in the fun race.

When everyone got down to serious business Mom was off! She did very well for only having a baby five months ago. What a trooper. Everyone was very impressed to say the least. Scarlett came with us as well and kept Cadel and Dad company while Mom was doing her thing with her teammates. Only a few more years and cadel can race in the kids fun race. Yay!

The drive back was long and hot. We made one ill advised stop but did manage to get back home just in time for the tail end of the neighborhood Halloween party. Too bad we missed most of it but there is always next year. Cadel called it a night a little early on his first Halloween. Unfortunately this maybe the only Halloween where Cadel won't be eating candy and bouncing off the walls for days afterward. But isn't that half the fun....

Nicasio Pumpkin Patch

This is the first of a two part Halloween post.

Part one is our trip to the Nicasio Pumpkin patch in, where else, Nicasio.

A month or so before Halloween each year the farmer who runs his farm on this land builds hay stack mazes, puts up huge inflatable "bouncy-houses" and slides, sets up a tractors for hay rides and covers about 200 square meters of land in all shapes, sizes and colors of pumpkins. It is a Marin favorite for sure.

While Cadel provides his usual straight face for the camera he did have a great time helping Mom and Dad pick out pumpkins for the family. This years trip was really more for Mom and Dad but Cadel did get to ride in the wheel barrow with the pumpkins and take some cute pictures. Next year he can choose his own pumpkin. Dad wants one big enough for him to sit... Mom not so much.

We'll have to wait and see who Cadel sides with next year.
Check back in a couple days for Halloween blog entry part two complete with a picture of the family costume.