Kuh-Guh

"Kuh-Guh! Kuh-Guh!!!"

(and progressively louder and more demanding he says,) "KUH-GUH!"

That is one of Caden's new words. He has at least one new one a day these days. This one, though, is one of my favorites. It means "color." At least once a day Caden goes to the drawer where we keep the crayons and paper and starts yelling, "kuh-guh!"

A few days ago, Caden used the word in a different setting and I realized that I often only recognize his words when they are used in the context I am used to. It makes me wonder how many other things he is saying I haven't picked up on yet! You see, a few days ago Caden was carrying around his little chair yelling "kuh-guh." At the time I hadn't made the connection yet that he was saying color. I was trying to figure out what he was saying/doing with the chair. It all registered for us when he brought the chair over to the table and said "color" again... you see, we have a rule that he is well aware of. He is only allowed to color when he is sitting down. Once he stands up from his chair and moves away from the table, we take the crayons away... Anyway, just a funny little story that made us chuckle... Enjoy the pictures of Caden kuh-guh-ing. :)

Multi-tasking already

and for the record, he did not draw the "gansta" Santa, that would be Daddy's handiwork.

This one's for Grandaddy...

My dad always teased me, and still does, about flipping my spoon over when I eat. I usually only do it when I'm eating dessert, like ice cream or something I'm savoring. I thought ole Grandaddy would get a chuckle out of his little grandson doing it, too! :)

Things that make me laugh

Caden makes me laugh all the time. At night when he's sound asleep John and I often sit up talking about all the hilarious things he said/did throughout the day and we laugh and laugh.

Here are some new favorite videos of mine:

In this video Caden talks about his meal.... He calls peas balls.




In this video Caden is being naughty... you'll see why. :)

Bowling, 17.5 mo

We took Caden bowling this weekend.

Christmas Videos

Daddy's Little Helper 17.5 mo

Helping Daddy take out the garbage...

Christmas 2008

We had a simple, but nice Christmas this year in Korea, with the anticipation of doing it again on Jan 24th after we return to Huntsville! :) John and I didn't get each other anything, not one single thing. We got Caden about 5 or 6 little gifts, just what we could find at the BX and we wrapped some of his "plane toys" that we've purchased or that others have purchased for us! We ate a big breakfast at home, skipped lunch and ate a huge dinner with some friends.

Caden is starting to understand the concept of presents I think. By the end he was tearing the paper off pretty well. He had a lot of fun with all his toys. We let him play for about 10 min between each gift. And every time he threw a fit when we took his toy away to open another! But, that's expected I suppose at his age. He didn't understand that something new was coming!

Caden's favorite toy was his dog that 'barks,' although the bark sounds more like a bird chirping... He immediately took it and tried to feed it his toast he was still munching on from breakfast. It was so funny! He got a lot of cars, too. He loves cars. He will push them around making noises all day it seems.

Dinner with our friends was great! Most of the kids are older and Caden tries to copy everything they do. It's too funny! He pushed a play baby stroller and accessories around all night!

Here are some pictures and videos of our Christmas.

Opening presents! Waiting so patiently for Dad to help him (with his favorite doggie by his side)

Opening gifts with Mommy.

I want a bow like Daddy.

Caden wouldn't even let go of the stroller for pictures.

Loving the baby stroller. He pushed around his doggie for a while, too!

Wordless Wednesday: Double Paci

17 Months

Well, actually we at the 17.5 month point, but that's not too far off! Besides, if I'd written this at exactly 17 months then it would have been before the 'big' changes happened!

Let's see... Caden is still his happy, adventurous self. More adventurous everyday it seems. My father (Grandaddy) joked on the phone today that Caden would be safer on a rickety old boat with no life jacket than he would with me... this comment stems from the fear all my blog posts have placed in my dad. And now that I think about it I do seem to post a lot of photos and videos of Caden standing on furniture!

Caden loves to climb. He really loves to climb on the things he's not supposed to climb on, too! This month he has learned to do a lot of new things that we aren't so thrilled about. He's learned to open the bedroom doors, pull down the baby gates, and take the lid off the trash can (and throw EVERYTHING away).

He's also learning some new behaviors that we're not to excited about either! Everything is "Mine!" to Caden and boy oh boy does he throw a fit if you take it away from him. His grip on things is abnormally strong because I can't get anything out of his hands anymore without some serious prying. If we go to take something away from him he does the whole limp body thing and throws himself down, kicking and screaming. Which leads me to the next behavior he's started: temper tantrums. Not just the little protests that are expected when toddlers don't get their way, but full out tantrums. Stomping his legs if he's standing, kicking his legs if he's laying down. Arching his back, throwing his head back to a degree which seems impossible, pushing away and swatting at me (often pulling my hair) if I have to pick him up (public tantrums are the worst), and basically anything else he can do to make it difficult for me to get to him. We typically ignore them at home, other than removing the object from his death grip. It seems that overnight, my baby grew up.

Caden has also started using the word 'no,' but not in the typical way most babies his age (or younger) use it... he says 'no' when he hears another mommy telling her toddler not to do something. He thinks he's so cute, well, and he is but we just can't let him know it's cute!

Other accomplishments this month include his ever growing vocabulary. He repeats most of what we say these days, although is usually doesn't sound anything like what we said. One of his cutest new words is diaper (babo), and this is one he does without a sign! A lot of his words started as signs, but I've noticed him signing less and less and using the words more often. At 16 months he was signing almost 20 words consistently. Now he is saying all of those words with the sign (and is now dropping the sign on some of them), except for a select few words which are still strictly signing only (sleep and coat are the only two I can think of). It all happened very quickly. at 16 months he was mainly signing, and by 16.5 he was talking AND signing, and by 17 he was starting to drop the signs.

Now, although he IS talking, it's still not frequent, I mean he IS a boy! He mostly uses his words to get what he wants or needs, but doesn't talk my ear off all day long.

Sometimes he plays around with pronunciations and one word can be said two entirely different ways. For example, he knows there is an "mmm" sound and the terrible tricky "rrr" sound but he can't seem to do them together. Sometimes when he wants "more" he'll focus on the beginning consonant and say "Mmmmaa" for more... and then other times the focus shifts to the end of the word and he focuses on the "r" sound and says "gore" (saying it very slowly).

He's definitely (finally) started pointing, although he still doesn't use it much. He loves to point at dogs (gog, duck, or guck... why he forgot how to say dog I do not know, but he was saying it 2 months ago) and he loves to point at the DVD player in our car and say "maybe" (he's trying to say movie). He points away from his body and says Mommy and points to his chest and says "Daddy." We thought he was pointing AT Mommy, but since we've discovered he just thinks it means to point away. He calls me Mama, Mommy, and MeMe.... depends on the moment which name he uses for me.

Caden's favorite games and toys right now include trucks, trains, and planes and all the noises they make and things they can do! He also LOVES the "Wheels on the Bus" song and recognizes it and does all the hand motions for it! The only verse he doesn't do a hand motion for is the driver. That's a lot of verses for a little one to remember and know! He also loves (still) the falling down part of "Ring around the Rosies."

Another little thing Caden has started doing is counting. When we stack blocks or when Elmo is on TV counting or anything else he will count along all the way up to 4! The words aren't completely clear, but they are close by toddler standards! Sometimes when he is playing he will count things, too (always up to 'four' clearly and after that he just makes up sounds/numbers). Caden has also been singing his ABC's for a while now, again, NOT clearly, but to the beat and some letters make similar sounds. He usually sticks with the beat and somewhat with the letter sounds all the way to "L M N O P," and we lose him after that.

Caden is definitely going through a phase of knowing what he wants, and doing whatever it takes to get it/keep it. It's definitely been more of a challenge to parent him, but we're trucking on along... I just wish he'd waited to enter this new phase until AFTER the 13.5 hour plane ride home! Oh well! :)

Thank you!

I wanted to say Thank You to those of you who commented on this post with tips for the long flight back home! You guys are awesome! I called the airline and arranged for the Toddler/Baby meals and I asked about the bulkhead seats, too. Because our flight is so late in the day we're thinking of heading to the airport in the morning, getting the bulkhead seats at check-in, then getting a hotel room near the airport to kill time in the remaining hours until our flight! We'll see how it pans out, but thanks again for your tips! Now... I have to figure out some fun snack ideas! :)

Playmates and Mink Blankets

Sometimes I'm not very creative with my blog titles! Ha! But, that's about all I could think of to describe this brief post below.

One of the (many) great things you can get in Korea are "Mink Blankets." Now, they aren't made of real mink, but they are so soft it should be illegal. There are various colors, textures, designs, etc and when you go shopping for one you have to decide what is most important to you... color or softness. We've bought several (and bought a few more for gifts) and Caden loves to play in them. Below he is playing in them with his friends Trevor and Parker who came over for a few hours the other day. The boys rolled around and dove in to these blankets for a good 15 minutes! I also included a few extra pics, without the blankets! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Alex's Birthday Party at Lotte Mart

Caden's friend Alex celebrated his birthday in style at a Korean store called Lotte Mart! The party was so much fun! They have a little party room and they sing songs and do a few games/tricks, and then the kiddos play in the awesome indoor play area! Caden had a blast! He especially loved that he could climb on anything and everything with no restrictions! Everything was kid proofed, too so there was little to worry about. Caden wasn't so sure of the ball pit, which really surprised me because I figured he would love it. He did love everything else, the slides, the peg puzzle board, and most importantly, the freedom to roam!

Enjoy the pictures and for those of you in Korea... this is a must do on those frigid days when you need to get out! I think it is 3,000 Won for 2 hours and totally worth it!

13 Hours, 30 Minutes...

13 hours, 30 minutes... that's how long the flight is from Korea to Atlanta. At least the second leg of the flight (Atlanta to Huntsville) is only about 45 minutes. Whew!

The end is in sight for our time here in Korea, and it will be a very bittersweet goodbye for us. We only have just over 5 weeks left here! I'm very torn, emotionally, about being sad to say goodbye to the great friend's I've made here among many other things, and being very excited to get home to my family, dog, and America! I am not, however, looking forward in any way to the very, very long flight home... with a 17.5 month old little boy who needs his freedom to roam and explore. Caden can not stay home all day, he would go insane, so it will be very interesting to see how he does cooped up in a plane (ahem, in a car seat) for 13+ hours. We did break down and buy a harness for him (aka a leash... yes we will be one of 'those' parents and proud of it)!

I have two reasons for posting this:
1) For prayer! Start early friends! We will take all the prayers you can give us for our little man to somehow sleep well and behave as best as can be expected on this long flight! We managed to get a red eye (overnight) flight so I hope that pays off a little!!
2) For advice! I have many readers who've done this before! I'll take any suggestions you have to give me! Especially advice on toys, foods, medicines, and other must have items to keep my toddler entertained!! So far we've got a magnadoodle, some new interactive (lift the flap type) books, new DVDs and a DVD player with a 13 hour battery life (plus we'll have our laptops), a new toy cell phone, and a few other small toys... what else should we bring??

China Part 4: Day Two

0700 Hotel Breakfast (bring your own breakfast foods if you travel to China!)

0900 Visit Jade Carving Factory (on the way to the Great Wall)

1030 Tour at Great Wall

1300 Lunch at Friendship Store- Mixture of Chinese Food

1430 Tour at Summer Palace

1630 Visit Pearl Factory

1800 Dinner at Shu Wei Nong- Suchuan Style (Spicy Food)

1930 Visit Wangfujing Street

2030 Back to hotel and rest.

After a decent nights sleep on an Asian mattress (which is literally only **slightly** softer than a box spring, and yes, you can feel the springs), we headed down to a less than appetizing breakfast. I have very, very few complaints about this trip, but the hotel room and breakfast are two of them. Our hotel room was actually great... we were fine, comfortable, and it was clean, etc... BUT for the exact same price that we paid some of the other members in our group got the luck of the draw and ended up on the Executive Floor. Like I said, we weren't uncomfortable in our room, but in my opinion if it's the same price don't we all deserve the same standard of accommodations? Okay, off my soap box.

The breakfast was adequate. They have cereal, bagels (cold), pastries (cold and not sweet), sausage and bacon (VERY greasy), and even omelets (undercooked, with weird add ins). So if you aren't picky about breakfast, it's great. But none of it quite hit the spot with us, because none of it is 'quite' western enough if you know what I mean. So, we headed to the Starbucks next door for a little something extra to fill our bellies, hopped on the bus and began touring!

We learned a lot about the Chinese people on the bus ride out to the Great Wall. I took notes and will get those little details typed up one of these days. We stopped for a visit to the Jade factory. Over the course of the entire 3-day tour, there were three factory trips scheduled. I am not certain, but my best guess is that the tour guides get a percentage of what we purchase at these factories. These are not really my thing. The jade factory was not really interesting, just a lot of jade. I got to try on a jade bangle. I didn't know it was such a science to get one of those things on and off! And John was his normal, silly self wanting to pose for obnoxious pictures with Jade carvings.

After the Jade factory we headed to the Great Wall. I know I said I have very few complaints, and truly I do, but bear with me here because I'm about to complain again. There are three or four different places around Beijing where you can visit The Great Wall. One is a little further away, less convenient, but it has the most spectacular views of the rolling (and not so rolly) hills and the wall stretching on for miles and miles. You can take a cable car to the top, too so you don't have to hike up. Unfortunately, this "less convenient location" is not where we went. We went to the convenient one and it's not really that great of an experience. The place we went to is mostly reconstructed, and once you walk, climb, and moan your way to the top, there is literally NOTHING to see but hills. No Great Wall stretching on for miles and miles. It's a total rip off. It was still a cool experience, but it would have been SO much cooler if we'd gotten to visit the location with better views.

At the Great Wall you can chose to climb up the "Easy" side or the "Hard" side. The steps, although many have been reconstructed, are still crazy uneven. The Easy side is still like climbing a 15 story building! John and I did the easy side, and then my over-achiever of a husband left me to get down on my own and raced ahead to go up the hard side as well. The "Easy" side proved to be much more difficult than I had thought. I was ready to quit, take a picture at the half way point, and call it a day. But John wanted to go to the top, so we did... painfully. John was practically running up the stairs while I was stopping to moan and rest every 4 or 5 stairs. I told John that it wouldn't have been so painful for me if we'd just gone slowly rather than at warp speed. Live and learn!

Terra Cotta Soldiers at the Great Wall

John striking a pose at the top of the Wall

After the Great Wall we went to lunch at a Friendship Store. Like I mentioned before pretty much everything in China is controlled by the government and these Friendship Stores are just another example of that. They are government owned and operated and have a huge souvenir store (with prices marked up 300-500% of what you can pay at a market) and a place to serve the tourists lunch/dinner. I will say that the food was delicious! Maybe it was because I was hungry, but I couldn't get enough of it! Each table was given a bottle of liquor, too. It was 56% alcohol, which I think makes it like 112 Proof! Insane! We took our little porcelain shot glasses, made a toast to the trip, and drank up! It was disgusting, but at least I can say I've done it! It burned quite badly, too!

After lunch we headed to the Emperor's Summer Palace. John and I only stayed at the palace for about 15 minutes, just long enough to take some pictures, enjoy the architecture, and to check it off our list saying we've "been there, done that." Then we hailed a cab (that totally ripped us off) and headed back in to town to do some shopping, leaving the tour group behind.

We felt a sense of adventure heading off to explore the country on our own, but we also, surprisingly, felt a little vulnerable. You would think after living in Korea for a year we wouldn't be that way. I think the difference is that in Korea we can do some communicating ...we can give directions (left, right, straight, here, there) in Hangul/Korean and are familiar with the names of landmarks, etc... but in China we knew nothing! Our cab driver took advantage of that and charged us $15 (100 Yuan) for the 24 minute cab ride in to town. We arranged this set price with our driver before leaving the palace, as our other option was a metered taxi which our driver assured us was more expensive. Turns out he lied. We took several 20+ minute long METERED taxi rides after this one and they all averaged about $2! Ha!!

Most of the cab drivers in China speak no English at all. We did meet one cab driver that spoke a little English. He learned what he knew from watching American TV shows and movies, of which his favorites were Forrest Gump and Prison Break. He was very excited to learn we were from Alabama (because Forrest Gump was from Alabama).

So, after the expensive cab ride, we ended up at Yashow Market and did some shopping (which I've already blogged about here). We shopped until we dropped and therefore we missed the last few items on the itinerary above, but we felt like the shopping more than made up for it! We headed home to our hotel and ordered a pizza from the restaurant in the hotel lobby. As it was cooking we realized we were going to be late for our 90 minute reflexology foot and full body massages that we'd arranged earlier that day (for $30 each). So, we got the pizza to go, and went up to our room where two Chinese women met us and spent the next 90 minutes rubbing all the aches and pains from the Great Wall out of our legs! Come to think of it, I wasn't sore at all the next day and that climb up the Great Wall was worse than any set of squats or lunges I've ever done in my life. Hmmmm, maybe the massages have something to do with that.

After the massages we headed to bed for the night. We had one day in China left, and we planned to make the most of it!