Sundays are always the hardest day of the week for our little man, I think that many other parents feel the same way. Church throws a kink into the regular schedule, Caeden eats at a different time, he normally won't sleep while at church because it is just too fun and exciting with everything going on, so usually he is exhausted and falls alseep on the way home from church. However, I guess our poor little guy was so tired this past Sunday that he fell asleep in the stroller (as you can see by the pictures above!). This is remarkable for Caeden, because he is always so interested in everything that is going on to even THINK about falling asleep in the stroller. Needless to say, he was worn OUT! He didn't even blink an eye when Ben transferred him to the car seat to go home!

Exploration and Discovery

Caeden has found a new favorite past-time that his daddy introduced him to this weekend, crawling under the coffee table and looking through the glass above him! He also loves to play with all the magazines underneath there too! He is becoming such a little toddler lately, and I can really tell that he will be 1 years old in a little over a month! I still can't believe it, but his mannerisms are so much less baby-like these days. He is still such a happy little guy, just content to be around people or kids or doggies, and he is learning more and more all the time. He has recently started to stand up from squatting all by himself, without holding on to anything. We have several guesses as to when he will take his first steps, but both Ben and I think that he will be venturing out on his own 2 feet in the next month. What a new phase that will be! He is already such a fast little crawler, I can't imagine the speed he will gain when he starts walking! He is such a joy and blessing to us, and we are so thankful that he is our son. I really enjoy the time I get to spend with him by staying home.

In other news, Ben has started his last fall semester at Southeastern (Lord willing!), and it seems like it will be a little bit better than last semester. He was able to set up his schedule to have 1 Tuesday night class and the rest of his classes are on Thursdays from 12-9. He is also doing "early morning" with Ravenscroft, which is great because it does not reduce his hours at work any. He is also taking only 1 independent study class, which will be better on his work load. We are excited about him graduating this coming spring, as long as everything goes as we think it will!

On Friday night, I had one of the scariest experiences yet as a parent. I was babysitting and giving Caeden his bath. As usual, Caeden decided that he wanted to stand up and see what the tub spout was like in this new fun bathtub. In a matter of a split second, while standing at the spout, he lost his footing and went face first into the spout and then down into the water. Immediately he started crying hard. I scooped him up in a towel and held him close. After his crying subsided a little bit, I held him away from me to see if he had hurt himself. I saw blood in the corner of his eye, and the whole right side of his face was red, with a purple spot on his cheekbone. Of course, as if I was freaking out already, I freaked out when I saw the blood coming from his eye, not knowing exactly where the cut was, in or outside his eye. I immediately called my mom, knowing that she was the closest person to me as I was in Cary, she said she would be right there. After a few minutes I could tell that Caeden had a tiny cut on the corner of his eye (thankfully!) and it stopped bleeding fairly quickly. He was acting very normally, and when my mom got there, she said the same thing. I am so thankful that the Lord protected his little head and caused him not to be seriously harmed by the fall! It was extremely scary, but the Lord is teaching me through this and many other thins lately that Caeden's life is not in my hands, he is protecting him and watching over him always. Only He can sustain Caeden's life, and I am not in control of that. This is a hard thing for me to learn, as I would like to be able to control Caeden's safety, but I cannot ever protect him as well as God can and I need to leave it up to "Him who is able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine!"