Hangin' out at the Knoxville Zoo

Last weekend, poor Heath had some last minute work to do on a house we are flipping (anyone want to buy a house in Lebanon?:), so Cade and I decided to go to Kingston to spend some time with his Nana and Pa Billy. The weekend started off great. We arrived early Friday and immediately went to see Dad at his school. The we headed off to the Knoxville Zoo with Mom. We could not get over how many renovations they have done there in the last few years. It was awesome, and we could not have picked a prettier day to go. I was eager to see how Cade would react to the zoo, but he absolutely loved it, and did not miss a beat. He loves to point right now, and would point at almost every exhibit we passed. He especially loved the penguins ("ducks" to him), and the river otters. He also took his first carousel ride, and tried his first Slush Puppy, both of which he loved.

The rest of the weekend was fun, too. On Saturday, we made a mandatory stop to Ella Minnow Pea to see Carrie, then went to visit one of my oldest friends from high school, Kaybe and her new husband, Bud.

Sunday, we concluded our trip with a trip to church. As many of you know, we attend a Church of Christ here in Lebanon (no background music, just singing). Mom and Dad go to a Baptist church that has a small band. I got tickled at Cade, because when they would play, he would sway back and forth with an arm in the air. I think he was just catching the Spirit:)!

We had a great trip, and can't wait to go back soon!

On the turtle

Getting ready to go

Not sure about this...

"WEEEE!!!"

The new butterfly exhibit
"The Zoo is Fun!"

Laughing at the Camel

Watching the River Otters
Petting Zoo

John Deere Green

Here are some pictures of Cade last week at the Thorne's farm. You see, several years ago, Rick (Heath's dad), restored an old Model A John Deere tractor that had originally been purchased by his grandfather, Henry Thorne (Cade's great-great grandfather). It is absolutely beautiful, and is actually on display every year at the Wilson County fair in the antique tractor display (I wrote about this back in an August post). Cade loves this tractor, and always wants to go outside to see it whenever he is at the Thorne's house. This year, Rick restored a John Deere pedal tractor that he got when he was three years old. It is so cute, and Cade, of course, thinks it is the greatest thing because he can ride on it (even though he has a way to go before his feet actually reach the pedals:). Rick, you did an amazing job on both!

Both of the tractors

In his Liberty overalls

On the little tractor

5th generation on the John Deere tractor (thanks for the cute overalls, Ginny!)

All Boy!

Here are some new pictures of Cade riding his four wheeler in the yard. As much as he loves to be outside, you can imagine what a great time he had. Now we are just waiting for the weather to be a little more consistent so we can stay outside more often!

"Eat my dust!"

"Go, Go!"

Hot Shot

Cade is becoming more and more independent everyday. He is really loving to feed himself, which tends to leave a mess. But lucky for me, Tucker is willing to "clean" the floor, and I use my trusty Dustbuster to get the crumbs out of the highchair. I am actually really glad that he is into feeding himself more often, because it gives him a chance to try some new foods. Whenever I give him a new food he approves of, he starts dancing in his highchair. It is so funny!

Making a mess with bananas and whole wheat waffles


Showing off his teeth


Some other notable milestones...Yesterday, we went to the pediatrician. She was very pleased with his development, and said he is very smart (okay, so maybe she says that to all the babies, but I am biased and choose to believe that it is just him:). He weighed 23.5 pounds which is in the 50th percentile for his age (all that crawling and cruising must be burning some serious calories, because he weight gain has really slowed down- he used to be in the 90th %). He was 31.5 inches tall (this was surprisingly in the 90th percentile- I guess he is going to be tall like his daddy:)
He is really starting to get full of himself, too, and thinks he is hilarious. He wants to talk so bad, and has several words that are understandable. He says duck, dog, Tuck (for our dog Tucker), mama, dada, balloon (boom boom) and bottle (doddle). His favorite word is truck (also pronounced tuck), and when you ask him how the truck goes, he says "vroom, vroom." I think he must have picked this up from Heath. It is so funny to me how enthralled he is with tucks, cars, tractors, etc. I have never really pushed this on him, I think it is just his male instinct:)