Kadue for You BBQ!

The "Kadue for You BBQ" was held in our yard this Saturday. The event began with a small group of volunteers that gathered for lunch followed by some "door knocking". The BBQ was held at night and we had a good turnout. Some friends, neighbors and family. Turned out to be a great night. Everyone had fun and there were quite a few kids playing in the yard. Jonah came by and he and Emma Claire enjoyed playing with her big pink ball. Emma Claire got a big handful of Jonah's hair and pulled it...he was not happy about it!

Brad is making strides with the campaign and we are now to the "home stretch". Three weeks from tomorrow. We are all proud of him and are excited to see how it goes!

For More "Kadue for You BBQ": http://eckadue.shutterfly.com/638

A Tooth!

Emma Claire is getting her first tooth (Tuesday, October 7). I got a call from daycare at work. They said that Emma Claire was "sad" and just not herself. Her teacher thought she could be coming down with something. So, of course, I immediately left work to pick her up. "Sad"...no chance was I going to leave her there!

She was, of course, fine when I picked her up. She gets so excited to see me now. She smiles and jumps up and down with her legs! So, we get home and Emma Claire will NOT be put down. When she was fussy during bathtime, it dawned on me to check her mouth (usually bathtime is a highlight of the day). Sure enough, I felt a little tooth starting to poke through! Since then, she has been fine. Not too fussy or anything. Just barely able to see the tooth now. Those smiles will look a little different pretty soon!

District 44 Debate

Brad had his first debate in St. Louis Park this Thursday night. It was sponsored by the League of Women's Voters. It was divided into two parts. The first 45 mins, 44A debated and 44B (Brad and opponent) were the second half. The format was really more about answering questions submitted by the audience than an actual "debate". Brad did exceptionally well. Rick and Marjorie attended and were impressed with Brad's performance. It was played live on local access television and multiple times in the coming weeks.

From Brad's website (www.bradkadue.com)
League of Women Voters Candidate Forum:
Please tune in to watch Ryan Winkler and I discuss the issues at the District 44 Candidates forum which is being replayed on Park TV.
Check out video of the debate anytime online at:
http://frylock.implex.net/Qwikcast/Root/stlouispark/1518/preflight.htm?AutoLoginComplete=1
You can watch by clicking the "high bandwidth" option, or do audio only. My portion of the forum begins right around minute 28.Please note, that each replay includes Tracy Leahy and Steve Simon debating in district 44A first, followed by Ryan and I in district 44B.

Emma Claire stayed with Chris Kadue. She had a good time. Did not sleep, of course, but was happy when I picked her up. Marjorie and Rick came over after the debate to watch Sarah and Biden debate. Emma Claire was on a roll. She thought Grandpa Rick was a hoot. All smiles. Impressive for so her being so far past bedtime. She did nap 3 straight hours the next morning...which is unheard of!

What a Week!

It has been a busy week in the Kadue household. I have fallen behind in my blogging, but intend to catch up. Emma Claire was her usual busy body. She is just growing so quickly and is on the verge of "real" crawling (on hands and knees). She took a couple of "steps" on her hands and knees last night. She is able to now get from belly or back to sitting up, just as of today. After 30 mins of fighting a nap, I went in her room to find her sitting up in the corner of the crib facing the door...just pitiful! I imagine she will pull up on the side of the crib next. She is pulling up to her knees now. She likes to look over the edge of her toy basket.

Emma Claire was definitely the life of the party at ECFE. She was the only one crawling around and getting into things. She enjoyed waving across the circle at Gavin (who is also in her daycare). She laughed at the puppets. Our topic was "sleep". It is always good to know you are not alone in the challenges you face as a parent. I hope Emma Claire was listening!

The big "skill" in swim class Wednesday was "going under". I didn't think the teacher was serious when she said we would "go under" (at least not for the little ones...Emma Claire and Jonah). She was, though. We went around one by one in a circle in class and "went under". Jonah went first, and survived. So, I felt better about it. Emma Claire did great! We counted 1-2-3 and both went under. She was a little stunned at first, but did not fuss at all. We actually did it a couple more times! That is a big deal for a little girl. (and for mom!)

Brad is fishing in Canada, so we have had a "girls" weekend. A very busy one, at that. We went to the mall and out to lunch with Addie and Suzanne. Found some cute fall clothes for the girls! Saturday afternoon, we jogged down to Lyon's Park, where Emma Claire swang. A little 3 year old girl was playing there and enjoyed pushing Emma Claire in the swing. It was an absolutely perfect fall day. Not a cloud in the sky and cool in the morning, mild in the afternoon. The leaves are beautiful and near their peak.

Today is Opa's 60th birthday...Happy Birthday, Opa! We were both wishing we were down South to celebrate with him. The Rebels lost their Homecoming game to South Carolina yesterday. I thought we were for sure on an upswing after our win over Fla last weekend.

So, it has been another good week. The days and weeks just FLY by now. Every day is good, though!

More Photos from this Week: http://eckadue.shutterfly.com/623

Sign Language Class

We attended our sign language class this week. Our ECFE teacher led it. Emma Claire mostly played, but she must have actually learned something. She waved "bye-bye" to Brad as he was leaving for work Friday...right on cue.

Mrs. Kathy said that babies are ready to begin sign language when they are able to wave bye bye (which is usually the first "sign" most babies do). So, Emma Claire must ready to converse! I am pretty sure she understands "milk" and "eat" now. What could be more important than that?!

On a side note, Brad's "direct mailings" went out this week. We got ours in the mail today. 5,000 photos of Brad Kadue and family. (This photo appears as a smaller image on the back of the mail out). Emma Claire is sure to win him some votes!

A is for Avocodo

It has been a good week for the family. Emma Claire's new "thing" is getting from sitting to crawl position without bonking her head. She is all over the place now and is getting faster. Brad put the baby gate up at the top of the stairs, just in time.

Wednesday, we had ECFE and swim class, as usual. Brad went with us to swimming. The new thing this week was to get her hair wet (not so much a "skill", but important if you are swimming, I guess). We practiced all of the other skills we had learned thus far.

Emma Claire had avocados again, which she seemed to like. She thought it was funny to smile at the camera. She, as of late, likes to give a "squinty" smile, where she squints her eyes and shows her lack of teeth.

Still no teeth, but Brad and I think she may be destined to be a dentist like her Dockey. She loves to look in our mouths. She feels of our teeth and examines our mouths with a thoughtful look on her face. Dockey will be thrilled to know that she is carrying on the tradition!

More photos from the week: http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=eckadue&page=eckadue&album=606

Teensy Tots

We had our first "Teensy Tots" class at church this morning. It is a parenting class for ages birth to 1 year. The babies attend with their parents. I guess you could say it was Emma Claire's first "Sunday School" experience. We enjoyed it and met a little boy that will be in the same "class" as Emma Claire when she moves to Calvary Daycare in December.

We went to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, which is our favorite Saturday morning outing. It was a beautiful day. Emma Claire loves to ride in her "pouch" and watch all the people. So many people stop to talk to Emma Claire. She was all smiles. There were beautiful flowers and fall vegetables. I bought a winter squash for Emma Claire to try this week. There were lots of mums and pumpkins everywhere...a sure sign of fall, although the weather seemed more summer-like.

Emma Claire seemed more like a little girl rather than a baby to me today. It is amazing how mobile she is getting. She is really trying to pull herself up, but is not quite there. She is gaining speed with her crawling and is near getting up on all fours. She still has no shortage of smiles and was especially excited about her meals this weekend. She tried avocado (sort of liked it) and loved apples...Honeycrisp apples, to be specific (which, in my opinion, are the best apples around...native to Minnesota). She can now tell when I am getting her food ready and really gets wound up.

The weekends sure do fly by quickly, but we look forward to another busy, fun week ahead!