decorating the christmas tree...

Caden has a few ornaments that we let him play with (and a new one seems to get added to that group each day). He gets a kick out of decorating the tree his way.

See?

I think he does a fine job. Don't you?

Caden came down with a cold this weekend. He was really sneezing and had a runny nose on Saturday. He's been really nasally today, but I've seen him worse off. I'm hoping he is just fighting something off and it won't get any worse tomorrow. I really need to make to work every day this week considering I'm off for almost a week and a half. I'm also hoping I don't catch this bug either.

Fingers crossed my lil boy gets better quickly and Ryan and I stay healthy.

just chillin

the tree is up!

We finally put up our Chistmas tree this past weekend, and Caden is obsessed. Aren't they all at this age? Ryan was still putting up the lights when Caden woke up from his nap. While I was changing his diaper he could see the lights and could not wait to get out in the living room. He was over the moon excited with the lights and all the ornaments.

He is doing rather well with the ornaments. There are 3 of them that he is allowed to play with it and he is getting the hang of it. He was taking them off and using them as a telephone saying "who?, who?", but now he is just takes them on and off and claps when he gets them back on the tree.

We have a stuffed Santa that Ryan's aunt bought for Caden. We asked him "who is this Caden?" and he replied with "ho, ho, ho". I cannot believe how quickly he learned this from the last two visits with my mother-in-law.

Sunday morning the lights went out on the tree. I couldn't for the life of me figure out where to even start. Caden kept saying "uh-oh, uh-oh", which then turned to "ba-byes" and then into an all out stomping fit when he realized I could not get them back on. Thankfully Ryan woke up and came to the rescue. We just need to replace the bottom strand of lights, so all lights above are now working.

Here is Caden taking it all in once we were finished.

Excuse the dog's butt in the background, but this was the only good shot of Caden saying "hi" to the lights. (on = hi and off = ba-bye)

I was working on a photoshoot for our Christmas cards this year. I'm rather disappointed in my "newish" camera I bought. All the sudden I am getting horrible glares, not to mention I still can't figure out all the darn settings.

He looks so handsome in his Christmas outfit!

words....

I've been thinking lately about how many words Caden can say. A part of me thinks he should be saying more -- probably because I've read somewhere that he should be saying 20-50 words at his age. He babbles a LOT - he is trying so hard to have a whole conversation with you, but you can't make out anything.

As of now he is only saying about 15 words with the newest word being "help".

doggy
kitty
thank you
bye
ba-bye
hi
who
da-da
ma-ma
mine
up
help
duck
uh-oh
cookie

He does use all these words at the appropriate time too, so that's a plus. I'm not worried he is not up to 20 words, but at times I wish he could say more. At least to communicate what he needs/wants so these screaming fits might lessen.

Mrs. Tammy is now watching a 2 year old who is a non-stop talker. She is like the energizer bunny when it comes to talking. Cute as ever. I have a feeling Caden may start talking more in the near future from listening to her talk so much. Time will only tell.

**edited to add "cookie" - he reminded me a few days later.

can you please pass the energy my way?

my silly, big boy

He keeps growing up on me. I can't even take it anymore. Between learning new words, playing differently (in a learning sort of way) with his toys, to his strength, I am just in awe of this little boy. Every week I see a more "grown up" Caden moving about.

Every now and then Caden will "hide out" with this snacks. That is if he is the only one eating a snack.

Over the weekend I put some chips in a bowl for me and some in a bowl for him. Turns out he wanted to eat from my bowl and I was NOT allowed to eat any more.

He has a new favorite way to drink his juice too!

and out of nowhere he started to build tall "castles" with this legos. He previously would choose one size/shape lego and stacked them as high as he could. He is now using EVERY piece of his legos to build. After he uses EVERY lego he will push the "castle" down and say "BOOM" although it sounds a lot like "VROOM".

Here is my lil man watching Dora (his new favorite) in a bucket (literally).

Everyone tells you that your children grow up right before your eyes. Man alive is that ever true. I am so thankful that I have held onto every moment with Caden for as long as I could and we have so many more memories to build together.

give thanks...

There is so much to be thankful for in our lives. Our family, friends, children, good health and life. I've never really taken the time to be so thankful for all the things in our life until Caden became a part of our lives. He has opened up our eyes in a new way, and I count each day of our life as a blessing. We may not live in a big house or have tons of money, but we have our family, friends, and each other. We have a healthy toddler and a daughter on the way. We are alive. We are living each day to the fullest. That is what is most important. Why wouldn't we be thankful?!

Our Thanksgiving started off like any other typical day except Daddy was home from work! Actually he has been home for the last two days, but sadly has to return tomorrow. I've really enjoyed having him home with us two full days in a row. That very rarely happens.

Caden started his day by hoarding his toys in his favorite chair that his Auntie Cole and Uncle Matt gave him.



and then admiring his hard work...

We ate, played and watched some Dora; Caden's new favorite. He will actually cry if I put on Mickey Mouse or some other cartoon because he wants Dora. Silly boy.

After a pretty good nap we were dressed and ready to head for a great turkey dinner with Ryan's family.

I am just in love with this new outfit I found for Thanksgiving Day.


Ryan finally got him to smile by giving him a few "high fives"..

For the most part Caden behaved himself running between me and Grandma. We didn't even attempt for him to eat any turkey knowing what a picky eater we have created. Oops.

a few melt downs came about.....

until Grandma filled his spoons with whipped cream..

Can you see how excited dear Daddy was about that?!


Ryan did join in on the fun and they both enjoyed their desserts, and so did I. (I would have loved seconds and probably would have if I didn't just gain 7 lbs in 2 weeks).

: :

Over the last week our lil man has learned a few new words: there, up, and mine. He uses the latter quite frequently. Everything is "mine" including the hair on Mommy's head. He has this thing about pulling a strand (just a strand) of my hair out of my head.

He also learned to drink from a straw out of a juice box yesterday. It made me a little sad to see him walking around with a juice box. All grown up... *sigh*

31 weeks and 19 months...

31 weeks....

Only 9 or so more weeks until little Adisyn arrives. Wow. Just wow. I know this last 9 weeks are just going to fly by between Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. I’ll actually be full term come my birthday, January 2nd. I am not expecting Adisyn to arrive that early, but you never know. My guess is actually January 17th. Caden was born on April 17th, so I’m thinking she should arrive on the 17th too… seeing how 17 is my favorite number and all.

I’m really starting feel the exhaustion of the 3rd trimester. I do feel pretty good in the morning, which is when I try to be the most productive. Come lunch time I’m ready to crash although I just can’t sleep no matter how long I lay there. I’m sure once Adi is here I’ll have no problem taking naps. Fingers crossed she’ll snooze when Caden naps.

Speaking of sleep this weekend would have been a great for napping since my lil man is Mr. Sleepyhead. Thursday night Caden slept 13 hours. He has never slept straight through past 8am. He then took an almost 4 hour nap! Although he didn’t sleep as long the next night he did on Saturday night until this morning; 12 hours! He must be going through a growth spurt. Instead of Caden waking me up this morning it was the dog. Only the dog faked me out. She whined at me to get out of bed and I assumed she had to go outside. Nope. She wanted my spot in bed. Rotten little girl.

I woke Caden up on Saturday just before he hit the 4 hour mark. Doesn't he look like he could have slept another 2 hours?!



This morning (after my dog kicked me out of bed) Caden woke up shortly after I came downstairs. He talked for a few and then was quiet. It turns out he was working hard to take his socks off. Apparently this little man does NOT want to wear socks. He’ll pretend to put them on, but you if try and help WATCH OUT! Like my mom said, one day I’ll walk into his room and he’ll have taken off every article of clothing including his diaper. Fun times.

He tries so hard to get his socks back on....

Our lil man turned 19 months last week. Despite the tantrums I do really love this age. He understands simple directions and can communicate what he wants/needs to some extent. He is saying new things every week. I will forever be amazed at how quickly babies grow up.

Caden is currently stuck on “hi” and “bye” although he does not wave. I’ve been waiting for this boy to wave for 10 months now and I’m finally giving up. He says “hi” and “bye” to everything. Actually, everything is a phone to him. Anything from a banana, to a spoon, the end of the plug to my blow dryer, the heating pad setting, the cords to the blinds, to a magnet on the fridge is his phone.

I couldn't get an exact picture of his ear on the heating pad remote, since he is such a squirmer but here he is saying "hi".

19 Month Milestones

Most toddlers should be able to . . .
Feed self with spoon and fork - Yes
Run well - Yes
Brush teeth with help - Yes
String more words together to make phrases or puts together pairs of words - He continues to try

Some toddlers will probably be able to . . .
Know when something is wrong - Yes
Say 20 to 50 words - No
Form recognizable sentences (two or three words) - only "thank you", but we are not hearing this as often anymore
Take off clothes - Just his socks (see above post)

Some toddlers could possibly be able to . . .
May show signs of bladder control - No
Brush teeth and washes hands without help - No
Draw better circles and straighter lines - No
Name several part of his or her body - No, but he will point to his body parts when asked where they are