Caeden is Eight!

Wow, this little man is growing up so fast! I have heard so much about the middle child syndrome, and I sometimes worry about my Caeden. (I worry about all my kids on a daily basis, not because there's something to worry about, but because I am the mom. It's what we do.) After all, no one wants to be the one that everyone forgot... But I think Caeden has the problem solved. The boy makes sure that we know he's here. From the very beginning, he has been the tease of the family. (I tell him he gets it from his grandma rigtrup.) He was teasing his older brothers from the time he started to walk, and any time we hear Jacob crying/yelling/generally being annoyed, we know Caeden is within arm's length. He plays so very well with his big brothers, knows all the pokemon lingo and such, and can probably "out-goalie" them easily. And yet, he is perfectly comfortable spending time with his younger brothers, too. The thing I love the most about Caeden is the way he loves. He genuinely hugs and loves and belongs. He will be the first to rub feet (of course, we pay him for it...) or get a drink for mom. He is such a good helper and I can trust him to do what I ask him to. And when he doesn't, he's honest about it. Love that! Loving, honest, hard-working... What more could a mom ask for?

For his birthday, we did his favorite meal (spaghetti and meatballs) for dinner and let him open his presents:

(These are the only pictures with Caeden actually in them - it's what happens when you let the boys be in charge of the camera :-0.)
He got a scooter, some "moon sand" (I've decided that this is in the same league as Play-doh, only worse...), and some games for the playstation. It was a very happy night, spent playing "Crash Tag Team Racing" or something like that.
For his birthday party, we invited friends to a skating rink/play jungle/bounce house place and just let them run wild for almost 5 hours. Oh, they slept well that night.
And the highlight was his baptism at the end of the month:

We were so thankful for all the family that made it! He was able to share the day with grandma and grandpas, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, and then afterwards we came back to our house and had chicken tacos for everyone! What a fun day, and hopefully one he'll remember forever.
I sure do love my Caeden, and I am so glad that he is a part of our crazy family!