Caden's Words 19.5 months

Sorry for the boring post... but I started typing and decided this was "blog worthy" to chronicle Caden's development! :)


This is the most comprehensive list of words that Caden currently says at 19.5 months:


sky ball no apple (abble) banana (nana) tractor grass keys dress shoes socks knee nose teeth ear eye belly baby drink milk water moo (he says boo and everything that is not a dog is a cow these days, except for birds and they are all ducks) duck car orange truck daddy mom mama mommy (I am all three of these) Nonnie (my mom) Gaddy (trying to say Grandaddy) wash please thank you movie (vee) book bus fish airplane eat hell0 yeah (says this when talking or pretending to talk into the phone) Yay! paci (gigi) night, night doggie light "all through the town" (from "The Wheels on the Bus" and it sounds like 'aah eww down'- would you consider this his first sentence? haha) down ashes, ashes (ah-ee, ah-ee) more byebye mine no yes (yesh- hilarious- we now make him say this to us when we are talking to him. We ask "do you understand" and wait for him to say "Yesh.") car beep, beep shh (complete with hand motion to the lips) outside slide bath Elmo blocks Amen! Pray Jesus train sweater (a new one from his flash cards, not very clearly pronounced though) pear broccoli bear diaper tree leaf poop (boop) Boo! (as in Peek-A-Boo) go hi Me color Uncle (ungle- and he says it to my brothers)

He is also singing a ton of other songs, but only certain words here and there. Here are a few that I can think off of the top of my head:
Jesus loves the little ones like me, me, me (he says Me, Me, Me and points to himself)
Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down (Ah-ee, Ah-ee...DOWN!)
ABC song- he amazes us with this one! He seriously has sung every part of it at one point or another but never all together. Last night he belted out X and Z!
And he Said Zicheus you come Down! (Caden hits the word Down right on cue every time)
All the verses to wheels on the bus... he says beep, beep, beep, bump, bump, bump, etc and does motions for them all.
Caden knows the word Jesus and hits it on several songs as it is obviously a popular word on his children's bible songs DVD
He definitely recognizes favorite songs and will dance to them, jibberish sing (mumbles as if he were singing it), or shout out the words he knows always on cue

Fun with the Doggies

Well, maybe "fun" isn't the best word, but it sure is funny! These videos are from Jan, when we first got back. Caden was 18 months old...

Oops!

This morning there was a little miscommunication between John and I. I hollered at John to heat up Caden's breakfast as I was scrambling to get ready for the gym. John did as he was asked. I grabbed Caden, and we flew out the door. At the gym's Child Watch program they told me that Caden could bring snacks next time because he was asking for them as he saw all the other kids eating snacks. I shrugged it off.

About 30 minutes later the light bulb went off! Our poor child didn't get breakfast! I thought John fed him, he thought I fed him. And did Caden complain at all? Nope. Not one bit. Wasn't fussy, wasn't whiny, could have cared less. As I made this discovery it was already 10:45 (15 minutes before lunch). He was happily playing away in his room. One thing is certain, Caden is an easy baby! He loves his food, but can happily adjust without it.

Surprisingly, he didn't eat much at lunch at all.

Wordless Wednesday: Stuck?

Telephone Funnies

Caden is obsessed with telephones. I mean REALLY obsessed with them! The whole time we lived in Korea we would let him "talk" to his grandparents on the phone... then we gave him toy cell phones, and eventually pulled out our old real cell phones that no longer had service and charged the up for him... It seems there is never a day that goes by, or even a few hours, where he doesn't have a phone of some kind up to his ear.

When we arrived in Huntsville my mom, knowing about his obsession, gave him an old black portable phone that no longer worked. He likes it, but because it doesn't work the buttons don't make noise, so it's not as much fun as the real thing! He is constantly trying to get the real telephone (the white one).

This morning John and I were in the kitchen and we suddenly hear beeping. We go to the living room to find a hysterical scenario! Caden thought he would try and pull one over on us. He put the black telephone in the base and traded it for the real, working white telephone.... Of course the base started beeping because the wrong phone was in it... And there stood Caden, confused at how his plan backfired... The beeping gave him away! I ran to get my camera to take pictures... at which time Caden realized he wasn't going to be disciplined for his actions and started trying to talk in to the phone...

Another funny phone story... the phone rang yesterday and my dad grabbed the portable and handed it to me to answer... I did. In the meantime Caden made a BEELINE for the chair in the kitchen, pulled it out, crawled up onto the counter and answered the phone on the wall... Fortunately it was just my mom calling for a ride (we're using her car)... Caden talked his little baby gibberish the whole time I was chatting with my mom, and when I said goodbye to her, right on cue he hung up the phone and said "bye, bye." I wish I had gotten it on video!

19 Months Old and counting..

My parents home is about twice the size of our apartment in Korea, so it's been harder to blog or find any computer time these days with a little explorer on the loose!

Caden turned 19 months old on Feb 5th. His vocabulary is increasing everyday, mostly because he tries to copy everything we say...but a special toddler dictionary is required to decipher most of what he says! He apparently really likes the letter/sound "g" (hard g as in dog) because he uses it a LOT! Some, but not all, of his recent words include: apple (ahble), banana (pronounced na at first and now nana), wash, yes (yesh), doggie, nonnie (my mom), just to name a few... He also has some new things he recognizes and points to but doesn't say... just points to the correct thing if we ask him where it is including sky, grass, garden, etc.... Those are just a few!

One of our favorite new things is that Caden has started praying with us a dinner, and at some point during each meal he decides we need to pray again, so we all do. It's so cute! When we're finished praying he yells out "Amen!"

His favorite activities these days include walking down the sidewalk with Nonnie and/or Grandaddy, playing with the dogs, going outside and playing in the yard, watching Grandaddy in his garden and begging to get in it, eating blueberries, giving kisses, asking for movies (vee), singing and dancing, playing with telephones, playing in his room (which now houses ALL of his toys and is baby proofed), scolding the dogs (pointing and wagging his finger saying "no, no, no") and getting in to everything! :)

He's cutting his one year molars (the ones on top first, and now the ones on the bottom). He loves to climb... and will climb on anything. On the furniture, the fireplace, stairs, the little hills in the back yard... anything that can be climbed on he will try to conquer.

We've always noticed that Caden is very "mechanically minded," but it is becoming more and more apparent that this fascination with how things work is not going away. There are certain things that after a little intervention and discipline he will leave alone, but the things with buttons or that control something (telephones, remote controls, computers, etc) he never gives up on. It has become quite a battle actually because as soon as we are out of the room or our backs are turned he is always trying to get them. We've always felt that those things are not developmentally appropriate for him and that a time will come when we will teach him to use them the proper way, but for now they are off limits. So, for now we fight the daily battle of "put that back" or "give the phone to Mommy, please"... Usually we don't have to tell him. As soon as he sees us he runs up to us and hands it to us and says "This" as if he's helping us out by bringing it to us.

He is such a joy and is so much fun to watch. My dad (Grandaddy to Caden) says that Caden is more entertaining than anything on TV. :)

Wordless Wednesday: Trying to be like Daddy...

Christmas In Dixie

One of the things we were most excited to return to Alabama for was Christmas, but we were a few weeks too late... However, my family was more than willing to throw a little Christmas in January gathering for us!! The star of the show was Caden... It's so wonderful to be back home and so close to family! Now if we can just convince the Nichols' side to head south then life would be just about perfect!!

Dr. Fish

I'm sure you've heard before that trends start overseas and eventually work their way to America... well this is one that I don't see myself doing again when it makes it here...

Dr. Fish is apparently popular in European and Asian countries. It's basically a giant pool/tub/etc with hundreds of little carp that eat the dead skin off of your feet. For a full exfoliation you will need to let them nibble (can I just say ICK) for about 15-20 minutes. I couldn't last even 15 seconds!!

It was the strangest sensation... it tickled a lot, and kind of stung just a little. John said something interesting when he tried it.. he said if the sensation was mechanical he wouldn't mind it at all... he actually might even enjoy it just a little... but knowing it was living, slimy, squirmy, little fishies (his quote exactly- haha) made it harder to tolerate...

Can you tell from my expression that I'm only tolerating this for the camera...

Ick! They were so aggressive!

John's turn. He let them feast on his flesh for several minutes...

This picture really captures the experience of it best...

And the video... enjoy!

So... would you do Dr. Fish???

Caden's Goodbye

Caden also had to say goodbye to his "chingo"- or friend- that he made at the BX. There were several vendors at the BX that became Caden's buddies. He knew which one's would play with him and he'd run up to them, often hugging them, kissing them, asking to be held, or taking their hands and walking them around... He is such a social little guy! :)

Our last evening in Osan we headed to the BX to say goodbye to his "friends."

The played dress up with him a little, giving him hats, sunglasses, various bags/backpacks/suitcases to walk around with... And several of them sent him off with a small farewell gift... We will miss the hospitality of Korean's toward children!

Saying Goodbye...

I felt like my last few days in Korea were a blur... There was so much to do (with the movers coming just 3 days before we flew out) and so little time to say goodbye to so many dear friends.

I came to realize that I don't like saying goodbye. It's awkward and feels so final. My friends are people who I chatted with often, and saying goodbye without the added "see ya later" felt so strange. Knowing that the chances are on this side of eternity I probably won't see the majority of them again made it very hard to leave Korea. But, I did... it's done and I'm a half a world away thinking of and missing those sweet friends of mine. Here are some pictures...

Our Bible Study Small Group

Out to dinner at Puffin's! Thanks for a great night guys!

My friend, Amanda, and I out shopping in Songtan one last time!


My last book club meeting...

My friend's threw me a little surprise party before I left. It was a total surprise and it made my year!! It made me feel very loved and special and I can't tell you how much I appreciated it! And Amanda E, I wish you could have been there! Did you ever figure out what Parker had??

My MOPS group...

My sweet friend Marta at my last MOPS meeting.

I miss you all!!