welcome caden pyo
We were able to take a short vacation to San Diego this past weekend. We really wanted to take the boys, but especially Caden to Sea World. It was so fun to experience all the shows and exhibits through his eyes. He loved the shows and he still chants, “Go Shamu!” at home.
This was the 2nd year we went to Tustin Sports Park for their annual Easter Egg hunt. Last year Caden was only a year and a half so we had to help him get his eggs and goodies. Wow, what a difference a year makes! This year he was running around and filling his Easter basket without any help from us. This was Colin’s first Easter egg hunt but too bad he was sleeping the entire time. 
We pray that in the years to come our boys will understand the true meaning behind Easter Sunday, that it is actually Resurrection Sunday, the day our Lord resurrected from the dead, conquering sin and securing our salvation. May they see what a truly glorious day it is.
I’m a little behind but Colin turned 6 months not too long ago. Here are his stats…
Weight: 17.2 oz (43%)
Height: 26.25 in (33%)
HC: 17 in (46%)
Some new developments for Colin are:
-He’s the King of rolling! He just rolls and rolls and rolls! One day he was just laying there and the next day he was in a totally different spot than where I put him! So fun.
-He’s eating all kinds of solids now! He’s had avocado, pears, squash, green beans, carrots, sweet potato, spinach, and so far he likes it all!
-We finally set up the crib for him and he’s been getting some good independent time in there.
-His 4th tooth is coming in!
-People keep saying he looks like a girl. It must be his fair skin and long locks.
-He is blowing raspberries like no other. He makes the funniest faces and noises and I love it. It is so cute and hilarious.
Caden is almost 2 1/2 years old and I am amazed at how much he can say and do. He is talking up a storm now and surprising us all the time with what he knows. Some things I want to remember about him at this age…
Special Talents
ABCs- Caden is still totally into his abcs. He’s got the letters, sounds, and song down. I think he might know them better than me. He can also sing most of the abc song in spanish. He’s now beginning to sound out words in books and form words with his magnetic letters. It’s funny though because he’ll put letters together like qat and oap and ask “what’s that?”
Helping Mommy- he’s been such a good helper these days. He loves finding trash and throwing things in the trash can for me. I’ll ask him to get stuff for me like colin’s burp cloth or put stuff away like colin’s sleep sack and he does it happily. He’ll say, “Otay (okay) mommy.” Then I’ll thank him after he does it and he says “you’re welcome mommy, you’re welcome.”. Love him!!
Negotiating- we’ll tell him it’s time for storytime and ask him to pick out some books. He’ll say 20 books? We’ll tell him no, 5 books. Then he’ll say “how bout 9 books?” He does the same thing with snacks! He’ll ask for 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 cookies, I’ll tell him no, 1 cookie and then he’ll say, “how bout 3 cookies?” Then I usually say okay. I’m such a sucker!!
Sleep
Ah, he used to be such a good sleeper. Seriously, he would take 3 hour naps and sleep 12 hours at night without a peep. I don’t know what happened but after he turned 2 sleep has been a bit of a battle. Caden went through a phase where he would cry and scream after we put him down and left the room for the night. Now we take our time putting him down and we stay until he falls asleep or leave his door open a little which comforts him. The other issue we’re having is that he’s been waking up several times in the middle of the night. I have to come to his room and tell him to lay down which he does immediately. I usually end up just sleeping on his toddler bed until I wake up and go back to his room. I’ve heard from several moms that it’s common for kids to go through this at his age. One mom told me it lasted over a year with her son. Nooooo!!!!
Likes
T.V. – I’m sure this is not surprising but my son loves tv. His favorite shows right now are The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Super Why. I know tv gets a bad rap but all I know is that I am sooo thankful for it. Caden’s learned a ton from it and all the shows he watches are very educational and mom (me) approved. There are set times that I allow him to watch it and I must say that those are happy times for both me and him.
ABCs- see above
Dislikes
Taking pictures- he is soooo over taking pictures. He used to be good about looking at the camera but I think I’ve tortured him with too much picture taking. Now he constantly avoids looking at the camera and tells me, “no cheese!”
Sleep- see above.
Again like Colin, there’s so much more I can write about but I’ll stop here for now. Hopefully my next post will be about how much better he’s sleeping.
Cathie inspired and encouraged me to do a detailed update on Colin’s 4th month like Ollie so here goes.
Special talents
Sucking his fingers- he’s got the sucking thing down. He can suck just 1 finger or put his whole hand in his mouth. I love it since that’s what he does to soothe himself to sleep.
Making Mommy melt with his smiles. Seriously, every time he makes eye contact with me, his face lights up with the biggest grin and I just melt like butter.
Eating
Colin’s drinking about 30-32 oz per day now. My milk supply got really low after I got sick with the stomach flu so Colin started to refuse nursing. Thankfully lots of fenugreek has helped my supply go up and now I’m nursing him 2-3 feedings out of the 5. I’m realizing how impatient my child can be because he really hates waiting for my let down. He wants it immediately so it’s just been easier for me to give him the bottle for the final feedings of the day.
Sleep
Colin is a good sleeper for the most part. Especially since we started putting him in the closet, he’s been sleeping really well. Kinda sad that he’s in the closet but hey, it works for us. He knows now that when the sleep sheep goes on that it’s time to sleep and he immediately starts sucking on his fingers. He still occasionally wakes up early in the middle of the night but I think it’s because his sleeves come down and he can’t suck his fingers to soothe himself. 
. He’s great about taking his naps for now and I love him for that.
He has a harder time falling asleep when we’re out but I think it’s because he’s so used to sleeping on his tummy. I really can’t complain about his sleeping.
Likes
The exersaucer- he can stay in it for quite some time which I’m really thankful for. He loves looking at and touching all the little attachments.
This is probably an obvious one but he loves getting attention from his family. I feel guilty at times because he doesn’t get nearly as much attention as Caden did so I try to really treasure the times I have with him. I actually don’t really mind when he wakes up in the middle of the night because it’s my special time with him with no distractions. He just loves when we play with him, hold him, give him kisses. He’s really starting to smile more at Caden too these days. Caden will read to him and ask him questions like “How old are you?” and Colin just smiles away.
Dislikes
The doorway jumper- we’ve only put him in it a few times but so far not so good. He keeps spinning around in it and starts whimpering and putting on the saddest face after a few minutes. We’ll keep trying but for now it’s a dislike.
Getting his fingernails cut- he doesn’t hate it but he sure doesn’t like it. He does not like having his fingers restrained and so it’s really hard for me to keep his hands still. It’s crazy because his nails are so sharp and they grow like crazy!!
I could probably go on and on but I’ll stop here since I’m thinking I need to do one of these for Caden too. Probably not today but sometime soon.
Colin had his 100th Day on December 29th, 2011. His Pyo grandmother slaved away in the kitchen to make a delicious feast for this special day. We are so thankful that his Pyo grandparents could be here from Alaska to celebrate this day with us.
These days Colin is rolling over from stomach to back, smiling and laughing up a storm, gabbering away, loves sucking on his fingers, drinking 5 or more oz. of milk, and just beginning to use the exersaucer. We thank God for blessing us with such a precious gift. We love you Collie boy!
Our family of four.
This was the best picture we could get of all of us.
Admiring his 100th Day rice cake.
Mommy with the man of the hour.
Colin did a special wardrobe change for Pyo grandma who really liked this outfit. Happy 100th Day!!
Wow time is just flying by! Since my last post, Colin has turned 3 months and Christmas has now come and gone! The Pyo family has been doing well. We’re all recovering from some type of flu but we’re thankful that the holiday season is providing lots of vacation and family time. We’re waiting for the Pyo parents to arrive late tonight and eager to see their joy at meeting all their new grandchildren.
Colin has been doing well for the most part. He was on a great schedule for a long time, sleeping through the night by 7 weeks but just recently he’s been throwing me off by waking up early, taking shorter naps, wanting to eat more often. I don’t know if he’s sick or teething or going through a growth spurt. Sometimes I find myself getting really angry and it’s a good reminder that I need to be trusting Christ daily for strength and patience. It’s humbling to remember that I can not control everything and that God will supply daily grace for my needs. Despite the fact that he’s driving Mommy driving with his crazy schedule, I adore Colin and can’t stop smothering him with hugs and kisses. Everytime he sees my face he gives me the craziest smile and my heart just melts like butter. He’s also been cracking up like crazy when we tickle his neck and it’s just the cutest thing ever.
Caden’s 26 months now and growing up so fast. Everyday he’s learning new words and he’s really beginning to speak in sentences now. He seriously has an amazing memory and remembers things I’ve only told him once. He’s still in love with his abc’s and now he’s starting to memorize them in spanish. Haha! We’ve slowly started the potty training process and he’s been going poo poo in the toilet. Not every time, but he’s done it many many times now. Still not looking forward to full-on potty training. I think I’m going to wait a little longer to take that on…
This year we decided to do the advent calendar with Caden. It was really neat to see him get excited and remember exactly which number door we were going to open each day. It was also fun to do different holiday activities and read the account of Jesus’ birth to Caden each day. I’m pretty sure Caden’s favorite part was eating his little piece of chocolate each day.
So thankful for this past year and all the wonderful gifts the Lord has granted us. We’re thankful most of all for the greatest gift of our Lord and Savior. Merry CHRISTmas from the Pyos!
Caden recently turned 2 and he went in for his 2 year check- up. He was 28 lbs (50%) and 33 inches tall (30%). It’s amazing how much our little guy is able to do and say now. He’s really starting to put words together and form coherent phrases and sentences. Some of his favorite/most frequently used phrases are “Sit down there,” “Where is it?,” and “I see Mommy/Daddy/baby Colin.” I’ve also been trying to speak to him in Korean so it’s fun to hear him say a few things in Korean too like “ee guh mo ya?” which means “What is this?” He’s also started singing a lot more these days. He’ll sing randomly in his crib, in the car, anywhere really, and I’m always surprised that he’s picked up a new song. He still loves his ABCs and he’s always watching ABC song clips on YouTube. He definitely has his tantrum moments but he’s at a super fun age right now.
Caden during CBC’s Fall Festival
A couple pictures during our family photo session. 
Colin had his 6 week appointment a couple weeks ago (he’s almost 8 weeks now) and his stats were 11.5 lbs (60%) and 22 inches (50%). Boy was I shocked by his stats. He seemed like such a big baby and I was expecting him to be more in the 90th percentile for weight but he’s actually very average. It’s all good. We love average! :) So far Colin’s been a very good baby. I mean he definitely cries a lot but he’s generally a good eater and sleeper. We let him cry it out to sleep through the night a few days ago. The first night he cried for 15 minutes, the next night 5 minutes, and last night he sleep 11 hours straight. Woohoo! Hopefully he keeps it up.
Colin at 4 weeks old.
Here’s a couple of Caden at 7 weeks doing tummy time and posing after his bath. 
We celebrated Caden’s 2nd birthday with a small get together with the Pyo siblings. It was so amazing to see how much he’s grown and what a big boy he’s become. It was also fun to see each of the Pyo brothers holding their own child! In one year, the Pyo family added three new members to the family. Amazing! God is so good.
Here’s Caden when he was less than a week old. 
They seriously grow up so fast!
Hooray for my birthday!
The Pyo men and their babies. 
He was so excited to eat the cake he just dug in. This was the first cake I ever baked by the way. What a mom will do for her son. :)
Here we are a little more civilized using a fork.
Happy birthday buddy! We love you so much!!!
I can’t believe it’s already been a year since we went to the Tanaka Farm pumpkin patch. This year things are a little different from last year. First of all we decided to try out a different pumpkin patch at Irvine Regional Park. The biggest difference is that this year we are a family of four instead of a family of three.
Mommy and Caden last year at the Tanaka Farm
Mommy and Caden this year at Irvine Park
Whoa, that’s a big pumpkin!
Here’s one more your size. 
Someone’s getting taller!
Family pic!
Caden did not like what was inside the pumpkins so he refused to help with the carving. Mommy and Daddy ended up doing all the work. :)
Colin wanted to be a part of the festivities too. 
