Caden: 2.5 Year Letter

Bigs,

I cannot believe you are already 2.5 years old! Where has the time gone? You’re no longer a baby, although you still look like one to me sometimes, but instead you’re turning into a little boy. You now have ideas and opinions all your own and can talk to us about almost anything. Life with you right now is so much fun! We’re expecting a little sister for you to play with in a few months, which I’m so excited about, but I often thank God for letting me enjoy this phase with you while you’re still our “only child.” Here are some things that come to mind when I think of you right now:

-You’re still in your crib, complete with crib tent. I know that you’re probably the only child in your class still in their crib BUT you sleep so incredibly well that I’m not willing to risk changing your sleep habits (while I’m tired from pregnancy) just because I want so badly to make your room a big boy room. Most days you take a 3 hour nap, sometimes even four hours long! And most nights you sleep from 7:20-7. I’m not so worried about your night time sleep as I am your naps getting shorter when we move you to your new bed. I figured I’d leave you there till you start napping less on your own. Your night time sleep is much shorter than it was a few months ago. We moved into our new house the same weekend as daylight savings time and it messed up your lengthy nighttime sleep. You were sleeping from 7:20 – 8am everyday until we moved.

-all that sleep is probably due to the fact you are a growing boy! You continue to get taller and taller! You’re one of the tallest kids in your age group!

-you still don’t eat breakfast although I can occasionally get you to eat some dry cereal or raisin bread if I present it to you more as a snack than a meal. You even call it your “snack.” You eat fairly well throughout the rest of the day though. You’re still not a huge fan of veggies, but you don’t hate them as you will take bites of them if we bribe you with fruit. We never put fruit on your plate because if we do it will be the only thing you will eat. We have discovered in the last month that you love raw veggies like cucumbers and carrots (that we cut into strips that you call carrot French fries)

- we haven’t used a bib on you in ages. Even for things like oatmeal, applesauce, and yogurt you just don’t need it. You’re very coordinated with your spoon and fork.

-your favorite snacks include fruit of any kind, ‘eggs’ (yogurt raisins), any variety of goldfish crackers- especially the graham cracker ones, pretzels (pestells as you call them) yogurt with granola, and I can still occasionally sneak in a veggie by giving you frozen peas as a snack, although I think you’ve finally got that one figured out.

-you love to sing and especially love listening to music. You have favorite songs that come on the radio and also favorites on some of Mommy’s CDs (your most requested being “Better is One Day”). We also listen to children’s music often and you have several favorites on those CDs as well. I’ve found that the invention of the repeat button is something I’m very thankful for. You enjoy listening to your own music on your headphones in the backseat, which Mommy and Daddy like b/c that means we get to listen to our favorite music in the front seat.

-you still love Little Einstiens and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but new favorites include Handy Manny and Veggie Tales. Your cousin Cyrus visited a few weeks ago and introduced you to the Cars movie which you like now, too. During the holidays we watched a lot of Veggie Tale Christmas movies as well as “The Very First Noel” which is an excellent retelling of the Christmas story. It will likely be a family favorite for years to come. You recently took an interested in Buzz Lightyear (thanks to some undies you have, but more on that in a bit) and I showed you the movie a few days ago and you watched the entire thing form start to finish, complete with commentary (Mommy, he’s a cowboy! Mommy, he’s sad!). That was the first movie you’ve really watched all the way through.

-speaking of the holidays, this was the first one where actually grasped a little of what’s going on. We often strolled through target, walmart and lowes just to let you see the Santa/snowmen inflatables and all the lights on the trees. You got very excited about seeing Christmas decorations. We drove around to look at Christmas lights and you kept making the “eerk!” (car slaming on it’s breaks) sound to signal to your Dad to stop so you could look closer at the lights. We also started a Jesse Tree this year and you absolutely loved doing the devotional and opening the ornament for the tree each night. Sometimes the ornaments don’t have a story in your chilrens picture Bible so I try to just talk about the ornament instead. But you always insisted on me finding something in your Bible to read. We also started a Christmas Story Book Box and you love having all the books about Baby Jesus in a special box under the tree.

-You’re learning some Bible stories (thanks to the Jesse Tree and we’ve also been reading some before we started the Jesse Tree). You’re favorite is the story of Adam and Eve. You tell it to us all the time pointing to the pictures saying things like “No No apples!” and “Obey God!” It always cute to hear you talk about anything, but to see you talking about the Bible is so heartwarming to me as I want so badly for you to grow up and know your Savior personally!

-We started attending Story Time at Barnes and Noble during December and you finally will sit still (although not really listening to the story, more tolerating it). The story is totally worth the wait for the fun craft you get to do afterwards. You love crafts and I display most of them proudly around the house. The playroom in our house has tons of framed artwork that you did. Some are sentimental, like the first time I let you use crayons when you were 13 or 14 months old! You went through a short phase where you called craft time, “Crack.” It was very funny to hear you say, “Mommy I do crack!?!”

-You are now officially Potty Trained! We potty trained you at the beginning of January and you did an awesome job! Day one was a bit overwhelming for us both. As a matter of fact you had only one accident that morning, but after your nap you had 3 in a row. I was actually crying on your Daddy’s shoulder in the kitchen about how maybe you weren’t ready when you yelled out “I have to go pee pee” and took off running to the potty. That was it! You were trained from that point forward and we never looked back! You are still in a diaper at night and nap time although you keep them dry. After another month or so we will stop using diapers at nap/night. You literally trained in just one day! We are so proud of you!

-You’re talking up a storm these days. You’re talking mostly in sentences now, even if they aren’t always grammatically correct. We’ve spent a lot of time working on your manners and you are very good about saying please and thank you without being prompted. We have also recently started working on having you wait your turn to talk and not interrupt Mommy and Daddy. This one is a bit harder to train, but we’re making progress.

-Your morning routine has only changed slightly. You no longer let us hold you while you drink your “coffee” (warm milk), but instead you sit in your little yellow Monkey Chair that your Nonnie bought you. You stopped letting us hold you back in the Sept/Oct time frame.

-You have such an easy going temperament and play so well with other children. Sure, you have your moments when sharing is an issue (isn’t it for all 2.5 year olds?), but for the most part you understand the concept of taking turns pretty well. You love having other kids around and are super interactive with them now, where before it was more you just played side by side.

- you are generally a very obedient child and we are so proud of you for that!

-You love going to school! On T/Th you attend WEE at a local church and you have such a good time! You talk about things you did at school (like playing Jingle Bells and Hot Potato and you often tell me what your friends ate for lunch) and you talk about your classmates and teachers ALL the time. So far you’ve only been to time out once and it was because you deliberately disobeyed your teacher when she told you not to put the wheely board on the mat. She said you did well and sat still in time out the whole time.

-We do time out at home as well and (thanks to our old Babywise book) we always require a verbal response for instructions. After time out we discuss what you did wrong and require a “yes mam/sir”. You went through a phase where you didn’t want to say it so you would say a jibberish word that sounded similar to yes mam/sir instead. That just got you back in time out so it was a short lived experiment. Every time we give you an instruction we require a response and you no longer have to be prompted to say yes mam/sir, but do it on your own. For example, I’ll tell you something like, “Caden you can walk down the sidewalk without holding Mommy’s hand but you have to stay next to Mommy. Do you understand?” and you will respond, “Yes Mam.” It has been such a blessing b/c it tells us you understand our instruction and it has saved us from a world of battles! We even let you walk through the mall last weekend (yes on a SATURDAY) without holding our hands and you obeyed b/c you understood our instructions to stay close. You are such a good little boy.

-You love playdoh! Thanks to the playdoh kit your Nonnie bought you’re an expert at scissors already!

-On Thanksgiving Day you up and started peddling your bike all on your own. Even up hill! Of course you don’t always pedal as you don’t always have the patience for it, but we’re so proud of your new accomplishment!

-Speaking of hills, you talk about them often when we are in the car…. You’ll say things about us going up the hill, being at the top of the hill, and going down the hill. I wonder where you learn this stuff! You also understand under/over/on top of/beside/etc. On a small side note, you also call all the big tower-type poles that go over the mountain “Eiffel Towers” (thanks to an episode of Little Einstein’s). Just as you understand going up/down hill you also understand abstract words like “afterward.” For example, we will tell you that we are going to do ABC and afterward we will do XYZ… you’ve started using this concept on your own now. You told me the other day that you wanted to go potty and watch Mickey Mouse “after.”

-You love books, but you still won’t let us read the stories. You prefer to talk about the pictures. Mommy often reads the story anyway but sometimes you will tell me to “shh!” You will do the same thing if I start singing a song sometimes, you will say “Mommy! No singing!” (which I make you add a “please” to). Usually it’s because I start singing to try and distract you and you know better than to fall for that trick.

-Daddy puts you to bed most nights (still- has been since you were probably 13 months old). You routine includes a going potty, a bath, a scramble to see who can hit the “all done” button on the tub first, then you brush your teeth, get lotioned/diapered/jammied up, read books, then Daddy pats your back at your crib singing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” then Daddy prays with you and you snuggle up with your gigis and animals (bear, rabbit, and horsey).

-You’ve started praying for almost all of our meals. You say the cutest things when you pray and often thank God that you kept your undies dry that day and that you went peepee on the potty. I think this is because one of the few nights you let Daddy pray for our meal was the day you potty trained so of course we thanked God for your success… you think that is just something we pray every day now. When your cousins Izzy and Addie came to visit you learned a prayer song. Although you don’t sing it at dinner we often hear you singing it while you play. You learned about “blessings” from the song and when you pray you thank God for “blessings” as well. It makes our hearts go pitter-patter.

-One of the things we are most proud of lately came about because of something your Daddy heard on the radio. It was a survey about parents who told their children all the time “You are so smart!” compared to those who said, “Way to work Hard!”…. we still tell you that you are smart but we’ve started teaching you the concept of patience and working hard as well and this has paid off in a HUGE way! Most often we use it in the car when you are doing something or want something and can’t do it. Now when you are frustrated and ask for help we tell you, “Work hard at it and you can do it!” and sure enough you almost ALWAYS get it! The other day you even managed to snap a watch on your wrist in the car all by yourself!! It’s been a great lesson in patience for you as well to not get frustrated and give up on things easily. And you are SO proud of yourself when you do accomplish it on your own!

I could go on and on but I think this four page word document is quite enough of an update for now (in 11 point font, lol). We are so proud of you and love you so very much! We pray for you every day and are so thankful that God blessed us with such an amazing little boy to call our own!

Love,

MomMom
(your newest name for me… and Daddy is DadDad and Nonnie is NonNon! We love your creativity!)

A Belly Picture, finally...

So, I found a little space on my hard drive to squeeze in just a few pictures from my completely full 1 GB memory card, lol. Neither of them are great, but here they are none the less. I took this picture during our Potty Training Weekend. I love the M&M smear on his lips and how he was sitting.... the pic is a bit dark, but it still captures his sweetness... he moved about 1 second after I took it so I'm glad I caught this sweet face, all covered in M&Ms and just as happy as can be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....

Caden is just such a little boy now. He cracks us up all the time. I've started writing down funny things that he says and I want to start posting them (and just blogging in general again). Blogging was therapy for me at one time and I really miss it! Here are just a few cute sayings that come to mind:

Every night at dinner we pray... over the last year Caden went from eating through the prayer so waiting for us without eating, to shoving in a bite of food while he squinted his eyes and put his hands on his forehead, to eventually asking to pray. These prayers are often precious! The very first time he asked to pray was about a month ago (about 28 months old) and after examining his plate (I had made burritos), he said,

"Dear God, Thank you for Taco Bells.... Amen."

After that night Caden pretty much prays for our meals every time. One morning we got up and cooked a big breakfast together as a family and Caden prayed, thanking Jesus for every item of food on his plate (eggs, toast, jelly, grapes, etc).

Lately Caden's prayer sounds something like this...

"Dear Jesus, thank yous the food..... Thank you Caden's undies dry and go pee pee in the potty.... thank you blessings....... Amen."

Last night Caden was warned and then deliberately disobeyed while I was cooking dinner and so he was given a spanking. During his prayer he threw in something about obeying God and spankings.... I can't remember the exact wording but I remember John and I looking up at each other from across the table and holding back laughs.

Caden knows about things that I have no recollection of teaching him... for example, a month or so ago Caden looked at me and said, " Mom Mom (his new word for me), what happened my trucks? They need batteries." I have no clue how he knows about batteries and what they do...

One of our Monday Morning Outings lately is to go to the Barnes and Noble story time after my gym class. After the story they do a craft. Caden doesn't quite have the pronunciation of that word down yet and yells out often, "Mommy I go to story time and I do crack! I do crack Mommy!" Lovely....

This next story is a little on the "too much information" side of things.... I apologize before hand ........... As we neared time for potty training we started announcing every time we went to the restroom so Caden would come watch and learn.... At first he complimented me for going... "Mommy go pee pee in potty! I so proud of you!!" Then after a few weeks he decided to change up his compliment.... Sticking his head between my legs to look into the potty he said, "Mommy!!! It so beautiful!" What was really great was when he started making these loud announcements/compliments in public restrooms... lol.

Caden is very much into make believe play now. It's really fun to watch him have conversations with his little action figures and dolls and to really make his trucks do an activity (complete with sound effects). He loves to pretend to have meals at his table/kitchen he got for Christmas from Gdaddy and Nonnie, too. Last night he was making me eggs. Caden gave me a spatula to eat my eggs with and I asked him for a fork. He went searching for one and when he couldn't find one he said (and I quote)... "I have a GREAT idea! Here's a spoon!" What drama and where did he learn "i have a great idea?" lol.

In other news with Caden.... as this is turning out to be a "catch up" blog post... we potty trained him a few weeks ago! He did SO great! I'll try to blog more about it later but it was so much easier than I ever thought it would be! We even took a road trip to Nashville just for fun one week after we trained him! That is how well it went.... we had no worries about him holding his bladder at all and he stayed dry all day long.

As for me, this picture is about 1.5 weeks old now and I swear my belly is twice as big, at least it feels that way. I had no belly at all, just a teeny bit of pudge two weeks before this picture.... That one is far from edited (my 17 week picture) and this one (21 weeks) is only partially edited (hence the shadows on the white and splotchy areas)..... but I knew that the chances of me ever going back to FINISH editing this picture were slim to none.. I've pretty much forgotten how to use photoshop and it took me forever to re-learn how to do the few simple things I did do... so here it is... Baby Girl (possibly Kaycie Grace as that is the favorite name these days) at 21 Weeks:

21 Weeks Pregnant

I'm so far behind in my blog I experience anxiety every time I log in at the thought of trying to catch up. Our camera broke so we have very few pictures from the last few months AND my computer is so full of pictures I don't have any space on my hard drive to add new ones. Yes I have an external hard drive but I still feel this need to put everything on CD.... I might have to just bite the bullet and put all my pictures on the external hard drive and leave it at that... what do you guys do to back up your photos? I need to make it a 'resolution' to print 10 photos for each month.... that way if everything crashes I'll at least have some memories to cherish forever.

So back to the pregnancy... I'm feeling pretty good these days although I will be honest and say I'm not enjoying this pregnancy like I did Caden's. With Caden I loved every second of being pregnant, this time not so much. Maybe it's because it took me 2 years to get my "body" back after having Caden and then I got pregnant... I'm going to go with that excuse. :D I'm still on the small side compared to where I was with Caden at this point. I've only just recently moved into maternity pants but can still wear my old jeans with a belly band too. I've only gained 4 pounds (4.5 on bad days, hehe) but you would think I'd put on more judging from the size of my belly bump! It just took off about 3 weeks ago and I look obviously pregnant now. My belly button hasn't popped out all the way just yet but it's on it's way there!

We found out at 19 weeks that we are having a little girl! I am SO thrilled and John said that he didn't realize until we found out it WAS a girl that he was really hoping for one! We're having a terrible time with names... my initial favorite was Gabrielle (call her Gabby/Gabbie) BUT I keep thinking that name, as much as I love it, just doesn't sound like me or something.... Plus we can't think of a middle name to go with it. I love the old traditional names, but none of them have that "wow" or "cute" factor that Gabbie has. Examples are Kate, Caroline, Elizabeth, Hannah, etc. Recently, John and I were looking at the name book before bed and saw the name Kaycie and we both really liked it. So that looks like a contender these days, too! It we chose that name it'll be Kaycie Grace. We still have plenty of time to decide I suppose, but I can't help but feel the pressure!

A few days ago as I was falling asleep I felt the baby moving around a lot! It was the first time I really felt her moving around more than just a little thump or kick here and there. I put my hand on my tummy and felt her from the outside for the first time... John joined in and got to feel her moving around, too! He never got to experience that with Caden as I'd only felt the first flutters when he left for Korea.

At my recent ultra sound appointment they diagnosed me with a low lying placenta/marginal placenta previa. I had this with Caden, too. Just means at this point I had to stop jumping/jogging during my aerobics class, which I had already cut back on the high impact stuff significantly. Now I do my jumping jacks one leg out at a time... I feel so stupid especially because I HAVE the energy to do them the right way, but babies safety comes first so...

I've been looking at crib bedding and having the hardest time... I couldn't take my eyes off the little girl stuff when I was pregnant with Caden and now I can't find a single thing I like and I can't stop looking at how cute the little boy stuff is! Go figure! I have decided that I'm going to order the same exact crib set we got for Caden (it converts to a full bed and will be 'lifetime' furniture for him and eventually her). I still love it and it is very simple and traditional and doesn't have anything that will make it go out of style. My only delima is do I order it in white or stained, dark (warm dark) wood? Will she still like her white furniture when she is 14 years old?!? Any advice/opinions out there?

All in all things are going great! Maybe at my next update we will have nailed down a name, ordered a crib, purchased crib bedding, and started clearing out the room that will be her nursery!!