Now...what do we do with all this stuff!

Cade had an outstanding Christmas. He was so excited by all his new toys. He got a slide and had a new train table with a train set up on it. He would slide down the slide, then go "ooh, train." He'd take the train around the track a few times then look at the slide and go "ooh, slide." He'd slide down the slide a few times and it would be back to the train. Dada had to open his presents from Momma and Dada because he was uninterested in opening anything at that point.

Aunt Debbie was kind enough to get him a drum set for Christmas. The sitter's son has a big drum set and Cade loves to play the drums. The drum set that Cameron has is very loud. The set Cade got is loud but not as loud as the big set. Anyway, the drums were a hit as well. Santa brought Cade bongo drums. Santa thought maybe those wouldn't be quite as loud as a regular set of drums. He liked the bongo drums too. But I have to admit the drum set is more fun...especially the cymbal!

Cade's birthday is coming up January 22nd. I'm not quite sure what this child will be getting for his birthday. We don't know what we'll do with all the toys he has now. And there is a baby on the way. We're going to have build a separate house just for toys! If it wasn't rude to do so, I would request that if people insist on a birthday gift, we'd rather have money to just put in Cade's account. I know, I know, it's very rude to ask for money but honestly, this kid couldn't possibly need another thing! But I'm sure there are things out there he'd love to have and doesn't.... And all I can think is he's only 2! The toys will eventually become less and be replaced by more expensive things. I guess I should be happy that a $1 hotwheel car amuses him now. At some point he'll want the $200 ipod...or whatever gadget is the thing then.

Santa Claus is Coming!

I don't think Cade understands the concept of Santa Claus. We talk about it. I've told him things I think Santa Claus might be bringing him for Christmas. And he likes the "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" song. He will ask for this at night when we do our nightly rocking before bed. He knows what Santa Claus looks like. He sat on Santa's lap (not very happily - until Santa gave him a sucker).

It may be that his momma is more excited about Santa Claus this year than he is. This is the first year that Cade can talk well and knows what's going on. It will just be so much fun!

Cade hasn't messed with the Christmas Tree or the presents under the tree. At least not when we are there with him. Grandma came and stayed with him a couple hours the other night while we went to a Christmas party. She said he was taking the balls off the tree and swatting at the ornaments on her watch. I find it humorous what he chooses to test the adults in his life with. You can see the wheels turning in his head when he does his testing.... The next day he kept telling me "Momma, I touch tree." Then he walked all around the tree and talked about the ornaments on the tree. I have put Disney, Elmo and other kid-type ornaments on the tree this year.

With us, his testing is usually standing his ground when he doesn't want something or want to do something. For instance, the battle now is his coat. He'll say "I don't want toat." Since it's really cold outside, this isn't an option. So it's a struggle everytime I go to put his coat on him. Other times he might not want to me to change his diaper, or he might want to carry something down the stairs when we leave in the morning. I don't let him do that because he is still learning to go down the stairs and I want him to hold on the railing with one hand and my hand with his other hand. I never know what is going to set him off. But it's quite clear that he knows what he wants and is unhappy when he is told otherwise! I'm sure this comes from the fact that both me and his dad are stubborn and strong-willed and don't particularly care for people to tell us what to do. I fear the toddler years might be a struggle for all 3 of us! :)

I don't care what "experts" say about TV.

Cade doesn't watch a lot of TV. He does like Sesame Street. When he was a baby and he woke up while I was getting ready for work, I would put him in his swing. His swing happened to be near the TV. While he was still pretty young, I decided that maybe he could be watching an educational kids show while swinging. At least he might learn something, right? An infant shouldn't be watching the news.

Anyway, Cade quickly became a Sesame Street junkie. That is the one show he will sit still for. He now can recite lines from the shows....if it's one he's seen several times. He can also sing songs from that show. He knows his alphabet and can count now and so when they do that on the show, he will do it with them.

Where I'm going with this is, my not quite 2 year old nows an octagon has 8 sides. He likes the episode named The Golden Triangle of Destiny. He will tell me how Telly looks for the golden triangle. On the way, Telly finds other shapes. So we talk about those other shapes. One of them is the octagon. So I told him the octagon has 8 sides. He says that often now.

While I like to take credit for him learning what he has to this point, I know some of what he's learned has been from the TV and Sesame Street. I'm glad he's learning good stuff! And that he's as smart as he is.

Christmas Train

I started last weekend to get out the Christmas decorations. I say started because I wasn't able to get it finished. I forgot how tiring being 7 months pregnant can be. And with an almost 2 year old involved, it's not a few hours project like it normally would be. The tree is up and partly decorated (hooray for prelit trees!).

Grandma Griffith gave Cade a Christmas train last year. It can be set up to go around under the tree. When we got home last night, I told Cade that we would get the train out. Talk about an excited 22 month old. All he kept saying was train, train. Mike got home when we were in the middle of it and helped us get it together. We finally got it together and turned it on. Cade had to have said it 45 times at least "Momma, Dada, Train!" He was so excited about this train.

That is what makes Christmas so much fun! Even though I am 7 months pregnant and tired a lot of the time, I really don't mind doing all the decorating and stuff (just wish I could get it donw a little quicker) because Cade makes it all worth it. He's finally at the age where he understands what toys are and he knows what he likes. I think Christmas morning will be fun at our house!

He's a singer.

Cade has been singing more and more. He sings with Sesame Street. He sings the ABC song. He sings with certain parts of the Cars Movie. It's actually pretty cute. He now knows the whole ABC song. Before he was hit and miss on some of the letters. But he knows them all. And not only does he sing it, he actually sings it in tune. I don't know if this is advanced for a kid that isn't quite 2. He also sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the theme song to Elmo's World. I love to hear him sing.

Yesterday whenever he'd fall or fall and hurt himself, he'd say "Oh sorry." I couldn't quite figure out where that came from. But I do remember Yurie saying she has been trying to get him to say sorry when he's acting out. And I suspect if he's too rough with Lily she tells him to tell her he's sorry. He was also saying "No, no, Cade." Whenever he was doing something he knows he shouldn't. That was pretty funny as well.

He was helping me with laundry yesterday. He likes to put stuff in the washer and dryer. This is actually very helpful for me because it's hard on my back these days to do much bending over. We have front loaders and we didn't buy the pedestals (big mistake in retrospect). Anyway, I would hand him the clothes to put in the dryer and he'd put them in. I would put a pile of clothes on the floor that needed to go in the washer and he would put those in. He likes to push the button to turn them on too. I just hope he never outgrows that. My next task is to teach him to fold...

Terrible Two's are a few months early!

Cade is showing his temper in full force. He can be the sweetest kid and in a second change to the devil! He likes to argue with me. It's hard not to laugh at him when he has that defiant look on his face.... but it's frustrating all the same. We had quite an argument this morning. He was demanding and cranky....(yes, he gets that from Mike- hahahahaha). He got mad at me and threw his cracker down the stairs. Then he said "uh oh, cracker." I told him too bad he threw it down the stairs. An argument broke out between us. Him screaming at me, me telling him that's what happens when we have a temper, blah, blah, blah. I'm sure it was a comical site seeing a 21 month old arguing with his mother. I'm sure it was more funny the site of me arguing with him than the site of him arguing with me. Does he really understand what I'm saying? I seem to think so because he reacts when I tell him stuff.

Because he was demanding and cranky this morning, I had to sneak out of the babysitter's house without my morning kiss. I hate that...but I guess that's what a mom has to do sometimes to keep her child from throwing a huge tantrum!

Could he really know what's coming?

The last week, Cade has been particularly crabby but mostly around me. I think some of his problem might be that he's getting his 2-year molars. There aren't any bumps back there yet. But from what I've read, the symptoms can start as much as a week or two before you notice any teeth. He wasn't really very crabby when his other teeth came in. So this cranky stuff is kind of new for me.

This week everytime I've dropped him off at the sitter's, he's thrown a fit. He doesn't want me to leave. While a mother likes to be wanted, she also doesn't want to leave her child screaming on the floor. He normally loves going to the sitter. There is a little girl there that he loves to play with. This week, he hasn't wanted me to leave him. I told the sitter..." you know he's 21 months old and has been coming here since he was tiny and he's never had an issue with this before. Why now?" She said she thinks he knows there is a baby coming and he's about to compete for my attention. I was kind of surprised by this. She said her oldest did it too.

I never really thought about it. We talk about the baby in mommy's belly all the time but I didn't figure he really knew what that meant. But I guess he's smarter than I give him credit for. Maybe he does know what it means and he's letting me know that he's not at all happy about it!

Or it could just be the terrible twos coming on very strongly.....

Playground

Mike and I took Cade to the playground yesterday. He loved it. When I took him to the doctor a week ago, they have those little slides in there. So I put him on it and he would say "wee" as he went down. I figured he might like the slides at the playground.

Some of the slides there are a lot bigger than the ones at the doctor's office. But Cade wasn't at all intimated by them. We would put him at the top and he would slide down with a big grin on his face. They had all different kinds....straight ones, curvy ones, ones with bumps in the middle. Cade went on them all! The only time he got freaked out was when Mike tried to put him on his stomach so he could slide down that way. Cade didn't want any part of that. My battery wasn't charged in my camera so I didn't get any pictures. I guess I'll need to take that next time.

He also went on the swings. These are the "baby" swings. They are big kid swings. And he seemed to know how to move his body to get the swing to work. He fell out once. I freaked out a little but he didn't cry and Mike had to remind me that he needs to fall every once in awhile to learn....(as a mother I say, yeah, whatever, I'll still be there to pick him up and brush him off whenever he needs me. :) )

The best picture of all would have been Mike on the swings on his stomach. Because the swings at the elementary school playground are not made for 39 year old men to swing on their stomachs! LOL! And no, I didn't attempt to get on any of the playground equipment. I'm clumsy enough when I'm not 6 months pregnant!!

"Hi Momma"

All the baby/toddler books I've read have said that when your child wakes in the middle of the night, that you aren't to make eye-contact and to do the diaper changing (if necessary), rocking, etc. quickly and not to make it like play-time or talk too much to them because they are to know that night time is for sleeping. This has worked really well for me until Cade started talking. The books don't say how to handle a toddler who says "hi momma" in a very sweet voice when you walk in the room. That just melts your heart and you can't help but talk back! :)

Cade did this to me last night. It was 3:30am and I was up to go the bathroom. I heard him in their rolling around. I figured he needed his diaper changed and I thought I'd let him have the rest of the milk he didn't drink at bedtime. I walked in his room and heard "hi momma" from the crib. I tried to talk to him in a whisper and tell him that he needed to go back to sleep. We rocked while he drank the rest of the milk. He asked about DADA. I told him DADA was sleeping. He thought that was funny. We rocked for a few more minutes and I laid him down.

I didn't hear him again but I imagine he rolled around in his bed for a while longer before going back to sleep. We are so lucky that he likes his bed and goes to sleep well on his own. I think the fact that he's a thumb-sucker has helped in that area. He can soothe himself. The thumb-sucking may become an issue as he gets older... I just hope the new baby is as good a sleeper as Cade has been! I don't know if we can be that lucky!

Something else funny he's started doing is when you are holding him and talking to someone else. If he wants your attention, he will grab your face and drag it to look at him or at whatever it is he wants to talk to you about. We're not sure where he learned how to do this.

His first bad word

It finally happened....Cade said his first bad word. And I was just sure he would hear it from Mike and say it from him. Mike talks a lot saltier than I do, especially in the car when driving. But this one came from me. And don't you know it was hard not to just laugh when he did it because it is so funny to see such a little person say something they shouldn't..... at least at first it is. We were watching Coleman's football game. When they are at home, I have the privilege of being able to park up by the press box. This allows us to stay in the car. Cade gets to watch a movie in the car and Momma gets to actually watch the game and not wrestle a 20 month old.

There was a fumble and momma said "oh, sh*%." Well, "oh, sh*%" was repeated a few times in the back. I stifled my giggles and tried to figure out how best to handle the situation. I turned around to see this adorable face with a great big grin. I had to tell him without smiling back that "we don't say that word." And knowing how smart he is, I'm sure he was thinking "but you just said it." I was very aware of what I was saying at that point. If anything happened, I'd say dang. Cade did repeat that. And he thought it was pretty funny when I would say it. I can live with dang.

Debbie was kind enough to point out that it will be really funny when Cade goes to school and says the bad word and when he's asked where he heard it, he will say "my momma says it." I'll be very embarassed. LOL.

Sentences

Cade has stumbled head-first into talking in sentences. This seemed to happen overnight for me. He told me the other morning, "I need socks." I was getting him dressed and we had a few days of cool weather so he wore socks and shoes on that day instead of no socks and sandals or crocks. This particular day, it was going to be warm so I wasn't going to dress him in socks. I got him all dressed and said "okay, let's go." He looked at me and said "I need socks." How could I argue? The kid thought he needed socks so we got socks!

I've mentioned before about Cade's shoe-fetish. He comes by this honestly....and I don't mean from me. I like shoes as well as other women but Mike is not like most men....he likes shoes. I think at the moment he has more shoes than me. As a result, Cade loves shoes. Example....Mike brought Cade back some lined-crocs from Denver last week. When he took them to Cade, Cade put them on and wouldn't take them off his feet, even to take a nap. He wears shoes around the house if they are where he can get to them and put them on. Yesterday, I brought home the tennis shoes I ordered for Cade (Can I just say that I had no idea how expensive shoes are for kids....especially when they wear them for such a short time!). I handed him the shoe box when we got in the house. He sat down on the floor and was digging the shoes out, while saying "cool shoes." I went into the bathroom and next thing I know, this little guy comes in with the shoes and says "I need help." I had no idea he knew how to say this. He sat on the floor while I helped him put his shoes on. This is what I mean by head-first!

The other morning, I went in to get him and said "it's kind of early to be up." He looked at me and said "it's not early." And he said it very plainly. He said early, well....r's, and l's very plainly.

Something else he said last night...
Mike teases him and tells him "I'm going to punch you in the nose." Last night Cade told DADA, "punch your nose." I'm quite sure he's passing us in intelligence quickly! And he's not even 2 yet.

He's also attempting to count to twenty. He misses some numbers here and there. But I'm quite impressed that a 20 month old can even count at all, much less to twenty!

I'm afraid the days are fast approaching of Cade thinking his parents are idiots. I thought I had several years to worry about that....but it doesn't appear that is going to be the case at the rate he's going!

Say "CHEESE"

I've got Cade saying "cheese" when I get the camera out. He has the cutest smile anyway but when he does his "cheese" smile, it's even cuter (as if that's possible). Here are a few pictures from yesterday. He got to ride on the 4-wheeler with DADA. He loved it. He had the biggest grin on his face the whole time. We thought he'd have a major meltdown when it was time to get off. Not so, he got right off all on his own. As a matter of fact, getting off the 4-wheeler was his idea.

In this picture, he was playing outside with Coleman and an airplane flew overhead. He was telling me about it here. In the one below it, he was looking for the airplane.

I love his laugh

Cade has the best laugh. I love to hear it. It always makes my day. Every evening at bedtime, I rock him for a few minutes. When he was a baby this is what put him to sleep....well, that and nursing. Now, he has a bottle of milk (and yes, I'm going to start working on getting that away from him) and we rock. When he's done drinking the milk, we'll sit there and talk. We may sing, count, or say our alphabet. Or he'll talk about what he's done that day. I don't always understand what he's talking about but he's telling a good story and I love to listen. There are usually giggles involved at some point.

Last night, we were rocking and talking. He was a in a great mood. I've had this allergy/cold thing and even though I'm much better I still have this cough. While we were rocking, I got to coughing pretty hard. Being pregnant and coughing or sneezing is always scary....I've wet my pants more than I care to count at this point. :) Anyway, I would lean up a little while I was coughing and Cade would grip my shoulders and just laugh hysterically while I was coughing. This got me to laughing and the laughing and coughing combo was difficult. We did that for a few minutes....very funny.

What's even better...no matter what kind of day I'm having, that little guy always makes me smile and puts me in a good mood. There's nothing better than seeing his little face.

Change of Seasons

I've found that Cade is mostly easy-going. But there are certain things about change he does not like. We've had some cooler weather lately. And because of that, I've needed to dress him in warmer clothes. He doesn't like the long pants or the long sleeve shirts. This morning he had to wear one or the other. I decided I wouldn't torture him with both. I decided on long pants and a short sleeve shirt because last time I tried a long sleeve shirt, he was able to get it off one of his arms. He hasn't figured out how to take jeans off yet....

Well, he threw quite a fit this morning because he did not want to wear pants. He'll tug on the legs and just scream. This makes it very difficult to get him dressed. He flails and carries on. I don't have time in the mornings to let him throw his fit so we do lots of wrestling and carrying on those days. After a few minutes, he's fine. He was fine this morning after he got his Elmo fix. :)

Hopefully he will get use to the long pants and sleeves soon. Otherwise my mornings might become very interesting!!! I'm lucky he's a shoe-freak because so far, it's never a fight to put shoes on him even though he hasn't worn shoes much in the house this summer.

New skills:
He turned circles yesterday for the first time. He was watching Sesame Street (this is his morning entertainment while I try to get ready for work). They were singing and dancing and he started dancing around and turned in circles. He was pretty proud of himself and kept doing it until he made himself dizzy and fell down. It was very cute though! Who knew turning circles would be so exciting!

Timeouts have started

Cade is really testing us now. Let me clarify, he's testing me a little harder than he's testing DADA. DADA can for the most part tell him no or to stop and Cade will stop what he's doing and not look at DADA. Or he'll stick out his bottom lip a little. But for me, the tantrums are in full swing. If I make him do something he just doesn't want to do, he flails his body, throws himself on the floor, all the classic tantrum moves.

Swatting his behind doesn't get his attention. I've been reading a discipline book. One of their suggestions is timeout but the timeout means isolation. They say to put them in their room. If they still have a crib (and he does) to put him in there and close the door. The idea is to remove them from the situation and isolate them from the parents. We tried this over the weekend. It does work to calm him down.... Don't get me wrong, he spends several minutes in there screaming but he'll finally stop. He likes his crib quite a bit. He's like a little Jekyll and Hyde. One minute he is just a little monster and the next he's all smiles and hugging and kissing. And the toddler years are just starting....the book says a toddler is defined as a toddler through 4 years old!

Once the new baby is a toddler....that means we'll have 2 toddlers for about a year and a half. I just hope we get a handle on Cade's tantrums before the new baby starts with the tantrums!

Major Meltdown

We had the mother of all meltdowns this morning. Cade hates to be woken up before he's ready. If it's necessary, you have to tickle him and such to get him to wake up and then you usually have to wait until he's ready to get out of bed. This morning, I didn't have that much time. So the tickle time was cute short and I just got him up. He was not happy about that. He screamed and flailed while I got him dressed. He screamed and flailed while I carried him down the hall. He didn't want me to brush his teeth. I had to hold him down so I could brush teeth. This was not an easy thing to do. He's getting bigger and strong everyday.

When I was done, I put him down on the floor. He stood in the kitchen giving me a really mean look and just screamed at me. I don't know what he was actually saying...it was just screams. But I can only imagine what he was wanting to tell me. :) I started tell him that I didn't want to get up this morning either and that I didn't like it any better than he did. He seemed to stop and listen. I don't know if he was understanding what I was saying but he acted like he did.

Once we got in the car, the tantrum was over. By the time we got to Yurie's he forgot he was mad at me. I'm afraid to say that he probably gets that trait from me....the not liking to be woken up before I'm ready and not being very pleasant to those around me for a few minutes until I get adjusted to the morning.

He made it to 20!

Cade counted to 20 over the weekend. I will admit...all the teen numers sound the same but that's okay because really they do sound the same! :)

He's also getting more of the alphabet song down. We went to the high school scrimmage Saturday night. I'm sure we'll end up at lots of games. And while I hate messing with Cade's bedtime schedule, I think he kind of gets a kick out of being at the games. The problem is though, the games don't start until 7pm and Cade is usually in bed between 7:30pm to 8pm. While we were at the game, Cade got very sleepy. He was sitting on my lap with his night night. When he gets sleepy, we often will hear him in his bed singing or counting. Well, this time he chose singing the alphabet song. So I was quietly singing to him in his ear. And he was not so quietly singing. I didn't realize how loud he was getting until I look up and several heads had turned around to see who was "singing". It was pretty funny.

Have I mentioned how incredibly cute I think he is?

Alphabet Song

I have been singing the alphabet song to Cade since he was first born. He has been chiming in on the letters that he knows and likes (P and W). Yesterday, I was changing his diaper and he started singing "A B C D E". He got those out clear as could be. Then he would mumble through the LMNO and say P just as clear as could be. I have a small genius on my hands!!! :)

Over the weekend, when it was naptime, he would grab his night, night and tell me he was ready for a nap. When I laid him down, though, he wasn't quite ready to go to sleep. He will lay back there and talk to himself and sing. This weekend I would hear him counting. He can count to 10 very clearly and we've even heard him count as high as 15. I don't know what age kids are suppose to do this. But I'm amazed everyday about what he can do.

Another milestone this weekend was eating with a spoon. I've not really given him a spoon with his baby food because frankly I didn't want to have the extra mess. But yesterday I decided I would let him try. He did a really good job. I would have to get his spoon turned around every so often but otherwise he did a great job getting food on the spoon and then in his mouth. He made a little mess but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. I guess this means I won't have to live close to him when he goes to college and spoon feed him his meals! :)

The baby is not so much a baby anymore....

I also discovered this weekend that Cade listens to DADA much better than he listens to me. I can threaten with a spanking and even have to give the spanking and he still will do whatever it is I told him not to do. Mike just has to say "Cade, no!" once and he will stop whatever he was doing. He'll stick his bottom lip out sometimes but he still stops. I guess I need to read somemore of my discipline book because clearly I'm doing something wrong!

We've also been trying to keep him from whining. I know, I know...all kids whine. But we don't care much for it and don't want it to be the avenue in which Cade thinks he can get his way. I'm afraid that will be an ongoing battle. He whines a lot to get his way. I've noticed the whining works with Nana (Linda) and Papa (Bill). Maybe he thinks it will work with us too.

18 month pictures

Here are the pictures I had taken at the Picture People store. He did such a good job and looks like such a big boy! I'm not sure why they are so small. Except that they some from their website and my guess is they don't want you to be able to print pictures yourself without purchasing them first.

Alphabet Song

Cade now chimes in on certain letters he knows when I sing the alphabet song to him. It is so funny. He knows quite a few of the letters. I still can't believe how much he's picked up. Every once in awhile, he'll repeat a word he's heard Mike or I say or something he's heard on TV. I guess now is when we really need to watch what we say!

He also likes the very beginning of Spongebob Squarepants...where the pirate sings the theme song. He will sing the "OOOOHHHH" and he can also say "PANTS". So he sings the beginning and the end of that theme song.

He's just so funny!

18 month checkup

Cade went for his 18 month checkup yesterday. He weighs 25 1/2 pounds and is 33 inches tall. I can't believe our little guy is almost 3 feet tall! He did very well this time. The last several time we've been haven't been pleasant. He would hate to be put on the scale. He hated them listened to his heart or checking him at all. He would just sit there and scream. He wasn't particularly happy about being checked out but he didn't cry this time. I think he's gotten this little flirting personality and he likes to talk to everybody so he was having a hard time getting mad at the nurse and doctor because he wanted to tell them stuff more.

After the nurse was done, she was leaving the room. Cade stood there with a very serious look telling her something. Neither of us had any idea what he was saying but he was telling her something and he was very serious about it. It was so funny!

He didn't have to have any shots this time, which was good. Now, he doesn't have to go back until he's 2. Then he will be on the big boy scale and won't have to have his temp taken rectally anymore. I can't believe 18 months has passed!

DADA has been gone the last couple nights. So Cade has missed his evening wrestling with DADA. Last night, he thought he would wrestle with me. I don't care much for this and didn't want to wrestle but tried to humor him some. Well, he did to me what he has done to DADA a few times. He bit me. We are doing our best to discourage this because quite frankly it hurts! So when he bit me, I told him no and swatted him on the butt. Boy did this upset him. He started balling. I told him "we don't bite. You hurt mama." I showed him the place on my arm. He pointed to it and said "boo boo". We had hugs and talked about it. He didn't bite me again. We'll see if he remembers he got in trouble for biting. I hope that he learns that biting is a big no no! Especially before Lily comes back to Yurie's this fall. I certainly do not want to pick him up and find out he's bitten her!!

AC/DC lover!

Last night, when I picked Cade up for Yurie's, he put on a mini-concert for us. He was pointing to Yurie's mantel saying "Aye, aye, aye", in a growling voice. I couldn't figure out what he wanted. Yurie went and got Alec and he turned on his ipod (this is what Cade was pointing at). She said "watch this." Well, AC/DC stared singing the "TNT" song. Cade stood there dancing and shaking his arms with a big grin on his face. When they started singing "aye, aye, aye", Cade started singing his "aye, aye, aye" in that growling voice. It was so funny. And then there was a part of the song where they sing "watch me explode"! Cade would scream during that part.

He had us all entertained. :) He's just doing so much fun stuff right now.

He has figured out how to climb on the couch. It's still a bit of a struggle for him because he has those short legs (he gets those from DADA). But he's doing good at climbing up.

Identifying Letters

Cade learns new stuff every single day. I'm amazed at how smart he's getting. I bought him some foam letters and numbers for him over the weekend. He saw them at Toys R Us and kept pointing to them shouting "nine nine". So I gathered he wanted the number. :)

I was picking up letters last night asking him what they were. I couldn't believe how many of them he knew. I wasn't even picking them up in any order. The following are letters he can identify by looking at them "O, P, R, W, M, B, U, Y, I". I think that is all. He can also identify the number "8" by seeing it.

He also counted to 12 the other day with the kids on Sesame Street. And the other night after I put him to bed, I could hear him in there saying "A B" over and over. I guess he was practicing his alphabet! :)

Now if I could only get this intelligent kid to eat other foods besides pureed fruits and veggies, yogurt with no hunks of fruit in them, cheese puffs, cherrios, fruit snacks!

He can catch a ball!

Cade can catch a ball! I took him to Grandpa and Lala's house Tuesday evening so they could visit with him. He was throwing a ball with Grandpa. He then would hold his arms out and together so he could catch it. It's the cutest thing!

Last night he was in the yard with Mike and I and his Nana came over. We were throwing him a ball. I told Mike to watch him. He would hold his arms out to catch it. And he could catch it most of the time. The look on his face is hilarious because he is concentrating so hard! Mike said that Yurie's boys must be teaching him to catch. I asked Yurie this morning and she said they had been throwing the ball with him. He's such a smart kid.

He also like to kick the ball. He was doing pretty good last night at running and kicking. He might be a pretty good soccer player but DADA says no soccer. Oh well, we'll see if that "rule" still stands in a few years.

Cade watches Sesame Street quite a bit. I use Sesame Street as an attention grabber when I'm trying to get something done. Anyway, last night, I had Sesame Street on while I was fixing dinner. Cade was in his high chair eating his dinner. They started counting. Cade hollered out when they got to 3 with the kids that were hollering out numbers. And when they got to 7, Cade hollered out 7 before the kids said the number. Mike and I just looked at each other. You know, we think he's a smart kid but we also realize he's our kid and we think everything he does is amazing. But we think 17 months old is pretty amazing for both catching a ball and counting to 10!

New word: giraffe.

Boat Ride

We took Cade to the lake this weekend. We took him out on the boat. He loved it. He helped Grandpa drive and also loved that. Being the awful mom that I am, I left my camera at home so I have no pictures of him on the boat at all. He looked so cute too.




He is starting to put words together. He'll say "bye bye car" when we are leaving. And he'll say "hi momma", "hi dada", "hi duck", etc. It is so funny to watch him concentrating on stuff. He can identify several letters of the alphabet by seeing them. And he also can point out the number 9. That seems to be the only number that he can identify but he can say other numbers. He actually counts pretty good for a 17 month old!


Another of Cade's new words is "whoa". He says this all the time now and it's so funny. He is our entertainment!

New Words & Knee Walking

Some of the new words in Cade's vocabulary: Cheese, Please, Man, Girl, Thank you, Spongebob (but this isn't very clear, however I know that is what he's saying), Sky, Ding Ding (trying to say dingaling). He also knows that an airplane is in the sky. He trys to say airplane but it doesn't sound like it at all. He also knows that a snake says "sssss". He jabbers constantly. He's saying some pretty profound stuff but we just can't understand what he's saying. But I think he's going to be a talker like DADA.

Last night, Cade was playing and all the sudden he was walking across the floor on his knees....not his hands and knees, just his knees. This is pretty impressive for someone who hasn't even been walking that long. It's especially hard to walk on your knees when you don't have very long legs!

He's also started (and he did this all on his own) calling his blanket his nighty. He has been calling it his night night. But the last couple nights he's been calling it nighty.

I have a hard time getting Cade to eat much for me. I think he's more interested in feeding the dog than himself. I think the plan is going to be that Seven not be in the room when Cade is eating dinner. She likes to be right at his highchair. And if he isn't quick to drop stuff, she will stand and stick her nose up on the edge of his tray. Cade thinks this is pretty funny and will give her bites. It's very frustrating for me because he doesn't eat as well as I think he should anyway. I try different types of food every night. And I've even had a hard time getting him to eat his usual favorites.

Mad Skills

Cade knows how to walk backwards. He's been doing it sporadically the last couple of weeks. But last night while we were playing he was doing it quite a bit. I don't know why this particular skill is so amazing to me. Maybe it's because he just learned to walk 5 months ago. And now he's already walking backwards! I know it's the little things that amuse me. : )

He has added the word driving to his vocabulary. There is a song from Sesame Street and the words are "Elmo's Riding". Cade can sing this. I guess one Saturday when he went to breakfast with DADA, DADA started singing "DADA's driving." So now Cade says driving a lot. And it's clear that is what he's saying.

Yurie said this morning she's amazed at how much he learns each day. She said maybe he'll be a genius. I think he might be....

A new thing he's been doing. When I take Cade to Yurie's in the morning, her boys are usually still in bed. So the last couple of days, Cade will go into their rooms and wake them up. It's pretty funny. Yurie said that the boys told her last night that she didn't need to wake them up in the morning...that Cade could. They are just as smitten with him and he is with them.

doctor's visit and more words

Cade had a follow up visit with his doctor on Friday for his breathing issue he had a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, he had no other episodes besides that weekend. Cade doesn't like the doctor's office. It's not just about the shots. He hates all of it. He screams when we put him on the scale. He doesn't like to have his temp taken (although I can't really blame him there as they do it rectally). He doesn't want them to listen to his heart or look in his ears or nose or mouth. So it's never a pleasant time when we go to the doctor. One of the peditrician's we saw told us that kids his age do not like having their personal space invaded. I guess I can see that. I don't particularly care for it either! I was glad to find out that once he's 2, they will take his temp under his arm and he gets to stand on the "big boy" scale.

Anyway, the doctor was checking his ears. He had an ear infection about a month ago. She looked in his first ear. Then Cade pushed the thing away and said "no more". The doctor laughed and said "I can see he has no development issues with talking." I know he knows the word "no" and the word "more". I didn't know he knew how to put them together.


He's also putting together "car bye bye". He says this a lot when he's playing with his cars.


Here are some pictures that Jordan took of Cade out by the pool. The first one is one of him on the 4-wheeler with uncle Doug. He loves to ride the 4-wheeler and wasn't very happy when Doug stopped. He was also very tired. That's the deer-in-headlights look.

Pictures

Who's House?

This morning when we went to Yurie's. When I pulled in the driveway and walked around to get Cade, I asked him "Who's House is This?" when I opened the door. He looked at me and said "Mameron". One of Yurie's sons is named Cameron. I think Cade say his name pretty well considering it's kind of a hard name to say. Her other son is named Alec. I would think this one is easy to say but Cade doesn't say it. He also doesn't say Yurie. It might be in some of his gibberish but it's not anything I can understand. I do know that he loves being over there. This always makes me feel better about leaving him for the day. As a matter of fact, there are days I pick him up and he doesn't want to leave.

Last night when I picked him up, I told him to give Yurie kisses. He did. He wanted to give the boys a kiss....but they weren't in the room. Cameron came in and Cade gave him one of his opened mouth kisses. He then high-fived everybody before we left. Very funny!

So Sweet!

This weekend Cade was particularly ornery. I don't know if it is the age, the gender, or the weekend but by the time Sunday night rolled around, I was worn out! This morning he was very sweet. He went to Lala's house this morning. Mondays are sometimes hard for him at first because he's been with me all weekend. He's always fine after I walk out the door. But it doesn't keep him from making it known that I'm leaving him. Anyway, this morning I was holding him and talking to Jan. He was rubbing on my face and kept leaning over giving me kisses. I told you....very sweet. What happened to Cade? Where was that ornery boy from the weekend? I think he was doing it on purpose to make me feel guilty for not staying home with him. I've told you I think he's very smart....I think I under-estimate just how smart!

I went to see him at lunch today and I had to change his diaper. His timing is impeccable! I asked him if he could sing for me. He started singing a song he hears on Sesame Street. The words are "Elmo's Riding". This is a song Elmo sings while riding his tricycle. Cade can sing this pretty clearly and in the same tune as on TV. He has such a sweet voice.

Tantrums

Cade has become quite a pro in the tantrum field. He is very good about screaming and loudly (I think he gets his loudness from me). He is also into throwing himself on the floor, ground, or wherever we happen to be.

Yesterday's tantrums started at the sitter's house. He didn't want to leave. I kept saying "let's go." He kept shaking his head saying "no, no". He took off running from me into Yurie's bedroom and wedged himself between her bed and her bedside table so I couldn't get him. I had to move the table to get him out! Fun times!

Later that evening, we went outside to feed the fish. Cade saw the guy across the street mowing. He kept hollering "mow, mow". We were walking down the driveway. He wanted to cross the street. When I told him no, he kept going. So I grabbed his arm and told him NO. He started screaming and tried to throw himself down. I say try because I did my best to keep him from doing this because I don't think he knows how much it would hurt to have his head slam down on the concrete!

I get him started back up the driveway. He wants to step off the driveway onto the grass but it's steep and I don't want him to fall and roll into the pond. I try to take his hand and tell him no again. Again, he decides to throw himself on the ground. This time I let him fall. Before you scream "child abuse", I did catch his fall some but still let him fall so that his head was on the ground. This didn't make him any happier. He laid there on the ground screaming at me. Again, fun times!

But just as quickly as the tantrum was starting it was over quickly as a car came pulling up our driveway. I'm amazed how quickly he can turn it on and off. I guess that is the nature of a tantrum. They don't have to last very long to be effective. He definitely gets the point across!

We have an elephant!

Yesterday morning, while I was getting Cade dressed, he was pointing to the picture that is above his changing table. (Yes, I am still using the changing table. He stays still on this and it's the easiest way to get him dressed and change diapers....but he is getting too big for it). Anyway, the picture is of an elephant. It was a picture my Aunt Vicky took years ago and hung on the wall in my room when I was little. We have talked a lot about the elephant hanging there. There were a few times I told him what noise an elephant made and I would make a trunk with my arm. I hadn't done it in a long time and hadn't really thought much about it.

While Cade was pointing to the picture, I asked him what noise an elephant makes. He proceeded to use his arm like a trunk and make an elephant noise! Imagine my surprise that he could do this. I wasn't expecting it at all. It is very cute, by the way.

I found out this morning when I dropped him off at Yurie's that she had been teaching him that. She said he was a very quick learner as she has only showed him that a couple times.

He's such a smart boy!!

Poopoo for Grandpa!

Lala (Jan) had a meeting this afternoon. This required Grandpa Jerry to come home from work early and stay with him until I could pick him up. Cade loves hanging out with Grandpa.

I walked in and Grandpa said "only 5 more minutes!" I asked what he was talking about. He said Cade was poopy and he knew it but he tried to wait as long as possible, hoping I would get there to change him. He said Cade was kind of crabby. So he finally asked him "Do you need to change your pants?" He said Cade ran back to the room where his diaper bag was and Lala changes him.

Luckily, Grandpa said he remembered how to change diapers. So all was good. It makes me smile to see the two of them in there trying to change diapers. It's the same smile I get thinking of DADA changing diapers.

Cade and I shared a high-five when I picked him up and found out he pooped for Grandpa! : )

Scary Moment

Cade managed to scare us this past week. He was at Nana and Papa's house on Friday. Nana called me that afternoon telling me something was up with Cade's breathing. I could hear him on the phone and he was wheezing and coughing. I told her I would call the peditrician and call her back. While I was on hold with the peditrician, Nana called back and said he was really scaring them. So I left and got him. In the meantime, the doctor called and could get him in as soon as I could get there.

Cade was in good spirits. He was just having a hard time breathing. We got to the doctor's office. Cade hated being weighed, looked at and touched in general. You'd think he would be use to this by now as often as we've been lately. They did a breathing treatment in the office. He also hated this. Then we had to take him for xray. This wasn't pleasant either. The nurses had to hold him down while he screamed the whole time. Luckily the nurses were wonderful and it didn't take very long. You can see his little mouth open in the screaming position in his xray. That was kind of cute to see.

Diagnosis was brochiolitus (I'm sure this isn't spelled correctly). My mom told me this is basically asthma. The doctor said this could be a one-time occurrence or something that might happen more. Asthma runs on my mom's side of the family (she and my brother both have it). His cousin also had a couple episodes like this when he was little but has since outgrown it. So it's not out of the question for him to have it. They sent us home with a breathing machine, steroids and antibiotics. After a breathing treatment that night, and several on Saturday, he's much better. He had one breathing treatment yesterday morning and didn't need another one all day.

Luckily this episode was short-lived. I'm hoping this will be the only episode. It never phased Cade any. He was still wanting to play and wrestle and talked like he always does. He and DADA wrestled a lot yesterday - that's funny to watch. Cade was head-butting as hard as he could.

The scariness of the moment didn't hit me until I was at Walgreens getting his prescription filled. I got all teary-eyed while at the drive-thru. I know there are many years ahead of me of worry with Cade. I guess it is a life-time of worry.... I guess that is being a parent.

Kisses sometimes, Head-butting all the time

Most of the time when you ask Cade for a kiss, he'll give you one. They are never the same. Sometimes, it's a closed mouth, lips puckered kiss with no noise. Sometimes, it's that same kind of kiss but he makes the noise "MMMMMAAA". Those are the sweetest. Then other times they are open-mouthed kisses. Those are good as well.

Every evening when it's time for bed, I tell Cade to give DADA a kiss. He won't always give one. But DADA will ask him to head-butt and Cade will do this everytime. I don't know what the draw is to head-butting. But he does it. So every night before bed, DADA gets a head-butt.

Something else funny: Cade like to give "five", high or low. He can be throwing the biggest fit but if you ask him to give you "five", he'll stop the tantrum to do it.

This little guy is so amusing! Who needs TV when you have this little guy to entertain you everyday.

Swim Lessons

Cade had his first swim lesson last night. It's a parent/child class, which means mom has to get in the pool too. I wasn't excited about that as this meant putting on a swim suit in front of others. I laughed because I would do anything for Cade.

The class was pretty fun. Cade is the youngest one there. One of the exercises they wanted us to do was sit the child on the side of the pool and tell them to "wait" until you said it was okay for them to get in. We had already been in the pool for a few minutes by this time and he was having no part of having to just sit on the side. I guess we'll have to work on that one.

The other exercise was learning how to climb out of the water. Cade did really well with that. He also loved that. He would climb out turn around and step right back in the water. He did that until it was time to go.

Another thing they did was encourage them to splash. Cade loved that! As a result, MOMMA got wetter in the face than she was planning. MOMMA came straight from work and didn't wipe off her non-waterproof mascara. This was a pretty sight I'm sure. Mascara also burns terribly when it gets in your eyes! Note to self: take off eye makeup before next lesson.

I've learned that Cade isn't afraid of the water at all. This is good and bad. Good because I don't want him to be afraid of the water. Bad because he'll think he can just get in whenever. Next lesson for home is to show him how to keep his head out of the water with a life-jacket on.

Cardinals - Tweet

Papa Jerry and Lala went to St. Louis last week. They bought Cade a Cardinals t-shirt. It is so cute on him. He was wearing it when I picked him up this evening (I'll post a picture soon). Papa and Lala told me he would point to his chest whenver they'd ask where the birds were. Of course, he wouldn't do any of that when I got there. But they also taught him that the bird says "Tweet". It's so cute to hear his little voice say "Tweet!" When I asked him what the bird says, he'd say "bye bye". At first I couldn't figure out why he was doing that. But then I remembered. He has a Fridge DJ and one of the songs it sings is "Birdie Bye Bye." It amazes me what he remembers!

Why there is no picture of Cade in his Cardinal shirt:
We were outside with DADA while he was pumping water out of the pool (we got lots of rain). The hose where the water comes out has a hole in it. It squirts water in the air like a sprinkler. Cade thought it was funny to stand in the water spray. He got pretty wet so I didn't get a chance to take the picture. But it sure was funny watching him in that water. On my next Wal-Mart list will be some sort of water spraying device for him to play in.

Bathtime

Cade loves to take a bath. Whenever it's time, I'll ask him "are you ready to take a bath?" He'll scream "BATH!" And run for the bathroom. I have a blow-up duck that I put in the big tub for him. This duck is not long for this world as Cade is getting too big for the duck bath. But it's funny now because when we go into the bathroom, he'll yell "DUCK!" and he'll drag it to the big tub and try to put it in. That just cracks me up to watch. He can't quite lift it over the tub. But he tries really hard. We also have small rubber ducks he plays with. I keep those on the sink. After the duck-tub is in the big tub, he'll walk to the sink and get on his tip-toes and yell "DUCK!" So we have to get the little ducks and he throws them in the tub. It's the little things that amuse me! : )

Here's a picture of Cade in his duck-tub! Isn't he just adorable?!

A Few New Words

Snacks (comes out nack)
Elmo (comes out momo)
Bath (this one is pretty clear)

When I picked Cade up from the sitter's, he always gives me a great big smile and comes right to me. He did that yesterday. But then he wanted to go back to Yurie. When I held my arms out for him to come back to me, he shook his head no and turned away from me. That's the first time he's ever done that to me! Quite a shock for MAMA.

It does make me happy to know that he likes his sitter that much. She has two boys that Cade just loves to play with. They are home for the summer and I know Cade will have a great summer with them.

Outside

Cade loves to be outside. If the weather is nice, we have been walking to the pond to feed the fish. Cade likes to walk down the driveway. This is particularly scary for me because it is kind of steep and he insists on walking by himself without holding hands. He gets to going pretty fast. I'm just sure he will face-plant in the driveway. So it is usually a battle when we walk down the driveway.

Cade doesn't have a problem with help going back up the hill of the driveway. I think his little legs get worn out because he wants to be carried.

Today the city delivered the 96 gallon trash cans they are providing all the households in the city. Cade and I walked down to get it. It was so funny. As I pulled the can up the hill, Cade was pushing from behind it. I wish I had my camera with me. He was a real trooper too. He "pushed" it all the way up. He was also mad when we came inside. But MAMA was sweating and hot and we all know that MAMA doesn't like to sweat! : )

Recent Pictures

Cade went swimming with DADA over Memorial Day weekend. Here is a picture of the 2 of them in the pool. Yes, it's scary how much they look alike! There will never be any denying who the father of this kid is!

Here are a few pictures I took while waiting for an order at Sonic. I was tickling Cade in the leg to get him to smile. I think I got some good ones. This smile melts my heart everytime! This is the face I'm talking about....how could he ever be in trouble!? If he looks at you like that, how can you get mad at him!?

Grandma and Grandpa

Last night I took Cade to Gradma Becky and Grandpa Doug's house. Grandma Becky works a lot so they don't get to see Cade as often as others do. Grandma Becky has lots of toys that Cade's cousins, Tristan and Payton, have kept at her house and played with over the years. It includes lots of cars and a couple motorcycles. Cade loved the motorcycles. Grandma Becky was convenced that Cade remembered Mike's bike. I told her that was impossible because he was pretty small when Mike got rid of it. I think Cade just thought they were cool because they were something different.

Cade wasn't at all shy when we first got there. Sometimes when he hasn't been someplace before or very often he's a little shy. But Grandma Becky said "Let's go get the toys." And Cade followed her right back to where the toys were. Cade also enjoys being outside with Grandpa Doug. Doug can carry him around and talk to him about the trees and flowers and stuff. Cade thinks that is great.

Cade is very fortunate to have 3 sets of grandparents. He's going to be uber-spoiled. I guess that is okay.....

Now the fun begins

We have our family room set up so that we can block Cade in there. It's easier to watch a toddler that way. He doesn't like being left in there by himself anymore unless Sesame Street is on TV. So if you walk out, he wants to come with you. One of the barriers has been his pack n play. It is just pushed up against the two couches so he can't get through. Well, last night, he pushed it open. Our little guy is finally strong enough and figured this out. He just pushed it out of his way. You should have seen the smile on his face. Mike and I just looked at each other like "uh oh, he's outsmarted us again!"

See what I mean....this outsmarting us thing is happening way to fast!

Cade has also not messed with the TV at all this whole time until a couple weeks ago. He found the buttons on the TV and he now knows these buttons actually do stuff to the TV. So if I block Cade in (pre-strong Cade) and I go outside with the dogs, he will have the TV off when I come back in. Fun times!!! He knows he isn't suppose to do it. And to watch him non-chalantly walk over by the TV is way too funny. Mike and I will both say "NO!" He just looks at us like "what, I wasn't going to do anything." I'm afraid that cute face might keep him out of trouble....or do parents learn to ignore the cute face?!

Our Weekend

Cade went swimming! I have a blow-up pool for Cade. We filled it with water this weekend. He liked it. But he enjoyed getting in the big pool with DADA much better! We may have created a monster! As long as Mike was in there, Cade had no fear of just walking to the edge and "stepping" in. Yes, Mike was there to catch him. I don't know if he would do it on his own without DADA in the pool because I wouldn't let him get close enough to the pool in that situation.

I signed Cade and I up for swimming lessons at the Y. They start next week. I'm not that excited to put on a bathing suit in front of a bunch of strangers. But I am excited to learn some tools for teaching Cade to swim. I was told we will also learn some basic CPR skills as well. Hopefully that is something I'll never need to use. But it will be nice to know.

Cade ran a fever off and on all weekend. He was just plain crabby on Sunday. Sunday night was terrible. He slept restlessly and cried when he was awake, which was often. So today I took him to Express Care. After a 2 hour wait (yeah, it was fun with a sick toddler), I was told he had an ear infection and very sore throat. This is Cade's 3rd ear infection since January this year. I'm not sure if that means we'll need tubes or not. I will call the peditrician this week and see what she says about it. This ear infection threw me because other than the night screaming, he didn't have any of the other symptoms...rubbing ear, lots of drainage. I guess he had drainage running down the back of the throat just not out of this nose.

He was acting much better this afternoon and getting him to take medicine wasn't a fight finally. He'd always been good about taking medicine until the previous 2 days.

New words: "oh no", "cool", "dada work"

Amazing

Cade has foam letters and numbers to play with in the bathtub. We put a few in the tub when he takes a bath. I will always hold one up and ask him what it is and then I'll say it. I've told you he can identify the "w". We had a number 9 in there and I held it up and asked him "What's this?" He said "nine" plain as day. I was amazed.

I didn't realize he knew the number 9. He hadn't had any of the numbers in the tub with him yet. I count to him all the time but other than Sesame Street, he hasn't really seen number 9's. I guess he's absorbing more from Sesame Street than I thought.

I've been told that he said DADA at work today. I think we may be in trouble if he already can speak in sentences!

Great night!

This is the first time in Cade's 16 months that he slept all night without making a peep! After I weaned him from breastfeeding, he quit waking as much. But was still waking anywhere from 3:00am to 5:30am, take a bottle and dry diapers, and go back to sleep. And there have the been the nights where something is bothering him and he's up multiple times. Perhaps it's a stuff nose or teeth trying to come through. But last night he went down about 7:30-7:45pm and didn't wake until I went in to get him up at 7:30am!

If this is his normal pattern here on out, I will be thrilled. The little guy is just busy the whole time he is awake. He doesn't stop to just sit. He's busy...moving around, playing with toys, getting into stuff. The wheels are working constantly in his head. He's talking in sentences but you can't understand all the words that come out. He's growing up so fast!

This morning when I woke him up, I got him dressed. As we were walking out of his room, he called "DADA!" He and his DADA exchange smiles and laughs every morning that DADA is home. This morning happened to be a day that DADA was gone. Cade babbled about DADA all the way to the car. Once there, we turned on the DVD in the car, his attention was captured. Sesame Street will do that everytime!

Our first embarassing moment!

He finally did it. Cade embarrassed his mom. Those that know me well know that I don't embarrass easy. I understand that toddlers can be difficult at times and show some ugly sides. But yesterday was the first time I was actually embarrassed that I could do nothing to keep him from screaming.

I had to take Cade to the eye doctor in Springfield yesterday afternoon. On our way back, we stopped by the vet to pick up Spencer. Spencer is my Shih Tzu that I've had for almost 14 years now. He's getting old and is having some issues. He's lost a lot of weight and I've been concerned. I dropped him at the vet so they could do some bloodwork. The vet wanted to talk with me before we left.

I couldn't keep the kid happy. He started out with his loud voice just jabbering. For those that haven't been exposed to his loud voice, it's very loud (he also comes by this honestly)! They put us in a room (I'm guessing they'd had enough of us in the waiting room). We waited probably 20 minutes. Cade wasn't happy. He screamed. I think he though we were there for him. Ordinarily I would find that funny. But the vet office was packed. They were running behind so I know the people waiting were already annoyed. They didn't want to listen to my screaming kid. He screamed when I put him down, he screamed when I picked him up. He fussed and whined the whole time the vet was trying to talk to me. One of the girls came in at one point while we were waiting on the doctor to see if he'd color. I said "We'll try anything at this point." I was surprised that entertained him for a short while. I kept apologizing to the vet....telling him he hadn't had a nap all day....

It was the first time since Cade came along that I was embarrassed. I know...how could anything ugly come out of such a cute bo y! Oh sure, he's done plenty of screaming. But I have usually been able to get him onto something else or pick him up or something to please him. Yesterday, I couldn't please him. And I'm sure I have a million more embarrasing moments ahead of me! ;)

I still had to go to the store. I wasn't about to take him there. By then I was worn out with him. I left him with DADA. When I got him DADA said he was good, didn't fuss or nothing. Why do kids reserve all the "fun" stuff for their mothers?

Shoes and other misc.

We have a boy who is obsessed with shoes. He comes by it honestly. His DADA has lots of shoes. And for a guy, it's really kind of ridiculous the amount of shoes DADA has. Cade likes to go into the closet (most of them spill out of the closet) and carry around DADA's shoes.

Anyway, Cade got a pair of Mickey Mouse crocs for his birthday from Papa (Jerry) and Lala (Jan). They are red and black and just plain adorable. He wore them for the first time yesterday at Lala and Papa's house. Jan (Lala) said that he would get upset if they came off his feet. He also likes playing with her shoes. He would put his feet in his crocs then put those inside her slippers. He thought that was great fun because he could walk around in them. I'm sure that was quite a site.

Something else Cade like's to do at Lala's is watch the cooking channel. Papa and Lala like to cook so the cooking channel is on most of the time at their house. Cade has watched it since he was little and there are a couple ladies he really likes to watch. One is Barefoot Contessa. I can't remember the name of the other one. I'm hoping he's learning something and as soon as he can reach the stove, he can take over the cooking duties at our house! : )

Over the weekend, we moved the large majority of Cade's toys to the basement to make him a play room (we are trying to get our house ready to sell). So, upstairs he has just a few. This makes the bookcase very visible because now it's not covered up by all those toys. Anyway, I heard him and Dada in there talking about the books. Cade was saying stuff and every once in awhile you could hear Lala intermixed. He likes to play with the cookbooks at Lala's house. I heard Mike say at one point, "Lala has books like that?" Apparently Cade was telling DADA that Lala has books and he likes to play with those.

Note to Jan: It looks like Lala has stuck. At least it's not Granny. And it makes for a good story!

For those that missed it: Abeula is spanish for grandmother and I was teaching that to Cade and it came out Lala. Cade already has Grandma and Nana and now he has Lala. : )

Smart guy

Cade has these foam letters and numbers that go in the bath. He was taking a bath the other day and we had several letters in the tub with him. I would pick up a letter and say what it was and he would repeat. Then I picked up the letter "b" and asked him "what's that?" He said b very clearly. He could also identify the letter "w". This amazes me. I'm a little worried that when we need to spell words so he doesn't know what we are saying. Will he be able to spell at an early age? And we'll think we're getting stuff by him and we really won't be fooling him at all?

When my niece was little (but old enough to write), whenever her mom would spell stuff she didn't want her to know, she would write the letters down and ask her grandmother what the words were. I guess at some point they really do become smarter than their parents!! I'm sure it's coming sooner rather than later.

Jeep Ride

Mike wanted to take the Jeep when we went to some friends house on Saturday afternoon. This required the moving of the car seat. As some of you know, this isn't always an easy task. Last year, Cade was only in the Jeep a couple times and it was when he faced backwards. Back then, he would wear sunglasses and leave them alone. Well, Cade hated every minute of it.

He didn't particularly like the wind. Since he wouldn't keep the sunglasses on, he couldn't open his eyes because there was too much wind. Mike thought there was less wind with him facing backwards. I don't think that is the case. I rode back there with him last year and there was just as much wind. Last year, he had me holding a blanket over his face while we drove.

I think the biggest problem was the sun. When Cade is in my car and I have the sunroof open, if the sun gets in his eyes, he will scream. Again, if he'd wear the sunglasses, this would eliminate a lot of the issue. However, he's very stubborn (I don't know where he gets this trait : ) ) and when he doesn't want to do something, he lets it be known. I kept telling him that it would be better if he'd leave his sunglasses on. He was having none of that. Luckily we weren't going far but it was a noisy ride anyway!

I will say that the ride back wasn't quite as bad since the sun was behind us that way. He at least didn't scream. He still couldn't open his eyes because of the wind.

So Smart

I'm afraid that Cade will surpass Mike and I in intelligence much sooner than expected. I was expecting it when he got to high school not when he turned 16 months! : )

He retains everything and is well on his way of knowing a lot! This morning while we were getting dressed, he started counting...."one, two, three". Those come out clearly. He kept counting and we could make out "seven" (this is also the name of our dog so he hears this a lot) and "nine." I tried to get him to repeat the ABC's. He got out A and B, then he got bored. He also says W very clearly. My dad (Papa Jerry) calls him C.W. so I think that is where he's heard W and says it clearly from being around him.

Hair Cut

We took Cade to get his hair cut tonight. This was the 4th time in his life he's had this done. The first 2 times, I was there. The last time I couldn't go and just Mike took him. I guess he had a complete meltdown. This time I figured I better go. He wasn't happy about it. But we tried a different person to cut his hair and it wasn't as bad as the previous times. He cried and shook his head a few times. But overall he did pretty well. And DADA agreed that we could keep it a little longer! He's just so cute!

I promise to post new pictures when I get my camera fixed. In the meantime, these are a few pictures that I have from the last couple months.

More New Stuff

Cade is trying to count. Well, he is counting, the words just don't sound the same as you or I would say them....except he can say one, two, three, and nine is clear as can be.

This morning he looked out his window and said "tree." We were watching the trees out our basement window Saturday night (May10th) when the weather was getting bad. Keeping a 15 month old occupied during a storm is kind of hard to do....especially with a pacing dada and big dog.

Speaking of the storms, I never was freaked out by storms. When I was little we lived on Joy Street when that famous tornado of 75 (I think it was) came right down our street. I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 at the time. I remember getting in the shower with my mom. I don't remember the sound of the tornado but I remember looking outside after it was done and seeing the house across the street was gone. I don't remember my mom being freaked out. Maybe that's why I never was freaked out by storms.

Note the was...Now that Cade has come along, my outlook is different. I'm responsible for another person now. So, I don't take them as lightly as I use to. I was a little flippant about it Saturday night. We had talked about going to dinner. Mike didn't want to because of the tornado warning. I said "We always have tornado warnings this time of year." In retrospect, Mike was right on this one. Thankfully we stayed home and rode out the storm in our basement. We were obviously the lucky ones. The bad stuff wasn't close to us. We couldn't hear it or even see it, except that the sky was black to our North. And after seeing the damage that tornado caused and knowing it came that close, I'm not so flippant about those storms. With Cade being the most important thing in our lives, I will always be sure that we take cover whenever possible.

Giggling

When Cade gets really tired, he gets giddy. I think most people get that way. But it's funny for such a small guy to do that. Last night, he went to bed a little later than normal. I gave him his bottle of milk (yes, he still drinks a bottle - hopefully by the time he's 2 we'll be done with that). We rocked and he drank his bottle. Then, I usually put him on my shoulder. Most of the time he'll lay his head down and fall asleep. Sometimes, when he's really tired, he talk with me and laugh about stuff. Last night he didn't want to lay his head down. So I got up and rocked him while standing (this is a move I find myself doing even when I'm not holding him). He laid his head on my shoulder and just started giggling. I don't know what he found so funny but he made me giggle. He laid his head there and giggled and I giggled....this is more of that good stuff.

Fire Truck

This morning Cade decided he wanted his fire truck. I told him that we should leave it at home and we could take other toys I already had in his bag. The tantrum began. Yes, we ended up taking the fire truck with us. Of course, he had to have the driver as well. He wouldn't let go when I tried to put him in his car seat. He held it in his lap the whole way to grandma and grandpa's house. At one point I heard something drop and then "uh oh" from the backseat. He dropped the driver. When we got to grandma and grandpa's, he still wouldn't put it down....not even to take off his jacket. So I handed him over to Abeula*, fire truck, jacket, and all. I'm sure at some point he put the truck down. But he was bound and determined to make my morning just a little more interesting.

*Abeula means grandmother in Spanish. When Cade says it, it comes out Lala. I think this is a good name for him to call Jan. I hate for him to just call her Jan. He calls Mike's mom Nana. And my mom is Grandma. He hasn't said that but a couple times. Anyway, I think Lala is good! :)

Mother's Day

This being only my 2nd Mother's Day ever, it still surprises me to hear "Happy Mother's Day." I spent 35 years of my life saying it and presenting gifts to my mothers. I never realized how important Mother's Day is until I became a mother. It and Father's Day are more special than any of the other holidays. It's the day to honor those who are the reason you are here. It dawned on me that the best present I could ever have is the guy this blog is about. Without Cade I wouldn't be able to celebrate Mother's Day as a mother. I can't wait for the days when Cade will be making Mother's Day presents at school and bringing them home for me.

Cade and I spent the whole day together. He was tantrum-free yesterday, which always makes for a good day. We bought cars at Wal-Mart. He wanted a ball but kept throwing it out of the cart. I decided he had plenty of balls and could use a few more cars. When we got home, he rolled his cars around the kitchen floor. Then he wanted to put them on top of the trash can and roll them around. Pretty soon I hear a crash and then "uh oh". He had rolled it off the back. I asked him "Where did it go?" He pointed behind the trash can. He's such a smart boy! It amazes me every single day when he knows something new. It really shows just how much they absorb and learn everyday. Now, DADA and I really need to watch what we say. Sometimes a word comes out of Cade's mouth that sounds like a bad word. We just kind of let it go and don't say anything. Because surely that can't be what he's saying!

Toys!!!!

Our family room looks like Toys R Us blew up in there. There are toys everywhere. Among those toys are the numerous rubber ducks talked about before. He also has lots of books (I want him to be a reader like me and so far we are well on our way to that!) He likes to take all his toys and throw them about the room. My mom says that is how I use to play with my toys. I'd get them all out and then play with them. Occasionally I can get him to help me put them away. But most days, I just leave the mess. He will just make one again the next day.

It will be interesting though. We are planning on putting our house up for sale. So every night, I will have to put toys away (or at least organize them) after Cade goes to bed. The next evening he will make a big mess all over again. I think the key will be to take most of the toys out of this room where he can't get to them. The fewer toys he has access to, the smaller the mess will be. That might work out in my favor!

New Word!!

Last night Cade said something I haven't heard him say before. I've said it several times but he hasn't. He was pushing his school bus around on the table and it fell off. He said "uhoh". I thought it was so cute. He said it again this morning when he threw his rubber duck on the ground.

In other news, Mike will be coming home today after being gone most of the week. I know he will go to Nana's to see Cade when he gets to town. I wish I could be there when Cade gets to see his dad after he's been gone. Cade is always excited to see DADA. But after he hasn't seen him for a few days, he's even more excited. It will be a great moment for the both of them.

I forgot to mention earlier other things that Cade knows: body parts....he can identify most parts of his body now. We are still working on belly button. But other than that one, he knows: hair, teeth, nose, eyes, ears, feet, hands, dingaling. Most of these he can also say not just point to.

DADA

Cade is always excited to see his dada. He smiles when he sees him. He'll talk to him on the phone when dada is traveling. When he first wakes up and he's in a good mood, while I'm changing him, he'll yell for dada. I think that Mike has done a wonderful job with Cade. They have a good relationship and it's always fun to see them play together. It's always funny to me how different a child's relationship is with their father as opposed to their mother. Cade doesn't play with me on the level he plays with Mike. With Mike he likes to do boy stuff like wrestle and head-butt. This is all good with me as I don't like either one of those things! LOL!



This morning while I was running around getting stuff together, I could hear Cade in his room. I thought he was crying really hard so I went back to his room to find him hollering "DADA!"

Another funny thing: when he's talking and we ask him to say words, he'll say most words with his sweet normal voice. But when you ask him to say dada, it is always a loud, rough-voiced "DADA"! I'm not sure why but he's very enthusiastic about his dada. I think they are well on their way to having this kind of relationship for the rest of their lives.

All Things Good

Last night, like every night, Cade woke up. I think his diaper gets so saturated that when he goes again it wakes him up. So I get a bottle of milk and change his diaper and we rock. I really enjoy this time with Cade. When he finishes the bottle, I put him on my shoulder and he goes back to sleep.

This morning Cade woke at 4am. We did our usual routine and he went back to sleep. Then at 5am, he was awake again. At first I was grumbling, I needed my sleep (or so I thought). But he fussed around enough that I got up and got him. We rocked. As I was rocking him, I thought this really isn't anything to grumble about. It's my alone time with Cade. He was happy to fall back asleep on my shoulder. So I rocked him until it was time for me to start getting ready for work. Cade went back to sleep and happily laid down in his crib. But for that 30 to 40 minutes, we just enjoyed rocking.

These are the moments I'd like to have forever. But I know that as he gets older, he'll stop needing mommy to rock him back to sleep. He'll stop wanting to give me kisses because he doesn't want to be embarassed in front of his friends. He'll stop wanting to just sit on my lap with his blanket, sucking his thumb while we watch Sesame Street. So until that day comes, I'm going to enjoy every minute of this cuddly time I have with him...whether it's at 5pm or 5am!

NO!

I can't believe I didn't put this in the list of words he says. I guess I hear it all the time now that I just kind of forgot.

No is one of his favorites. Anytime you ask him a question, he says no. Even when it's something you know he's going to want. He says this a lot when I'm trying to feed him.

Ducks in a Row

Cade is especially fond of rubber ducks. Out of all his toys, he always goes for the rubber duck. I found all kinds of rubber ducks online that are dressed up....you name it there is a duck dressed like that. I bought Cade rock star ducks, sports ducks, red-neck ducks complete with buck teeth and chest hair!, pirate ducks, easter ducks (bunnies, sheep, eggs). Some have teased that maybe Mom likes the rubber ducks more than Cade. It's not more than him but just as much. When you line of his ducks there are more than 50 and it's a pretty funny sight.

One night we were lining up his ducks and I kept telling him "ducks in a row", over and over. He finally started saying what sounded like "ducks in a row". Every once in awhile I'll hear "row" and I know that's what he's talking about.

One day we were playing with his rock star ducks and I was teaching him that the duck with the guitar makes a certain sound: "Nah, nah, nah, nananana, nah, nah, nah, nana." You know in the Smoke on the Water song. He started doing it and he actually had the tune down. He's such a smart boy!

It might be a few posts before I have new pictures. Mike was trying to capture a cute Cade moment and he dropped my camera. I need to try and find someone to fix it.

More words!

Here are a few that came out today that I forgot he could say:
Nasty - we say this when we are changing a dirty diaper along with:
Stinky
Squirrel - comes out sounding like birl but it is definitely squirrel he's trying to say
More
Night Night - this is his blue blanket
Hi
Yeah
Hi Yah - I know not a real word but it's funny to hear him say it! We say this when we throw his blocks back into its container.
Cookie
Num Nums - this is when he's hungry

Something else new the last week or so is head butting. This doesn't feel so good on the bridge of your nose! He was head-butting Mike in the shoulder tonight.

Welcome!

I thought it might be nice to post what's going on with Cade as often as I can. That way his "milestones" so to speak will be documented and those that do not get to see him often can keep up with what he's doing. Something else...this little guy has been such a joy for his dad and me that I don't want to forget all the precious moments. I know I'm late recording precious moments. I may go back and record some of the early stuff at a later date....

I know I'm a little late getting this whole thing started. 15 months late to be exact. But now that he is a toddler, he's doing so much stuff and something new is happening almost daily, I want to be able to remember all of it when we all get older!

He's walking like a pro for only having been doing that trick for 3 months now. He's fallen and scraped his knees (much to the excitement of his Dad, "you have to let him fall, how else will he learn.") He loves to be outside. And trains are very exciting right now.

His first train sighting was very exciting, he kept yelling "train, train!" After that anything noisy and on wheels was a train. So I taught him "Car!" Now he yells that. But it comes out "Caa", sounding like his from Boston. : ) Very cute, if I do say so myself.

He has a whole slew of words he's saying right now. I know I won't remember them all but I'll try and list some of them here:

Mama, Dada, Duck, Car, Train, Nana, Papa, Debbie, He actually said Coleman once, Baby, Bye Bye, Pretty, Bird.... (to be continued)

He knows what a cow says, a sheep says, a lion, a horse, a pirate, a dog, a duck....

We are struggling a little with people food. He'll eat stuff if it is sweet (who won't, right?). But he has a texture issue and to get him to eat fruits and veggies, we still do baby food. I decided that I could feed him pureed foods from a spoon as long as he wants me to but his future wife might not appreciate that too much! : )

We just opened our pool. Let the fun begin! I'm very worried about him around the pool because he doesn't seem to have much fear of stuff. He may just have to wear that obnoxious life jacket everytime he's outside anywhere near the pool. I plan to teach him as much as I can and maybe I need to look into a swim class. I'm just not that excited about putting on a swimsuit myself. It was a sad day when I realized that I was never going to be able to wear a two piece bikini again....stretch marks and being too old. That's kind of a harsh reality to have all at once!

Here's a picture of the cutie. He had his first birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. It wasn't his party but the party of his good friend Michael, who turned 3 that day! He wasn't that excited about any of the rides at first. His favorite game to start with was of course, the one with rubber ducks. But after much coaxing from mom, he finally had some fun (see pic).