On the Cusp of 2 Years! 1 month to go!

In just one month our little boy will be 2. Time does seem to pass faster as we're getting older. He continues to be a joy to have and I can see why the Bible says in Psalm 127:3: "Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him." It is very rewarding having a child and the more time we spend around Caden the more we would like to have more.

Some new fun things he is doing!

Language! One of Collin's favorite things to watch (and mine) is seeing how Caden puts words and sentences together. Collin is passionate about languages and speaks several so it is fun to see first hand how a young child learns a language. Caden is talking in more complete short sentences. His has a great memory and remembers things quickly and is always willing to repeat things as he's learning more.

It's manners time!  Caden has great manners. I'm a stickler for manners. I was so happy when I picked him up from the childcare at MOPS the other day and one of the lady's told me she was impressed with his manners. I don't let him have juice unless we are out and it's 100%, so still mostly milk and water. He eats plenty of fruit which is why he doesn't need juice. Anyway, the other kids were drinking it and so before I left him I said I brought water but if he seems to really want some then it would be fine. She said that he went to each childcare worker and said, "Juice, please. Juice please." As they were passing out the juice. He's also getting good about saying "thank you." We are still working on using an inside quieter voice when needed.

Reading and spelling! He still loves books but doesn't want to sit still as long as he used to. So we mostly read twice a day. 15-20 minutes after lunch and 15-20 minutes before bed. I think his vocabulary has increased significantly because of all the reading we do. We like to read for at least 20-30 minutes a day. For the most part we achieve this but sometimes we're out during the day or he falls asleep too fast at night. He learned to spell his name a month or so ago and we are working on more words. Now he's confident that when almost anyone asks him how to spell his name he proudly says, "C-A-D-E-N, Caden!" I bought this neat letter/word puzzle around Christmas and have been saving it for a rainy day and for when he was a little older. Well, we've been working on Phonics and occassionally I'll bring it out. He enjoys "spelling" words. If you haven't noticed I love teaching and am a fan of educational toys. I (Marisa) worked in an educational toy store my junior year of high school.

Numbers and more numbers! He loves counting and numbers. He can count to 10 in German. He picked it up so quickly that Collin and I were both very impressed. He can now count to 20 in English. He goes back and forth between counting in English and German. He loves to count things and is pretty good at it.  We might have a math guy on our hands.I'll ask him how many crackers does he have, how many blueberries, how many cars, etc. He points and counts.



Early birthday gift.  Caden loves his log cabin!



All I want to do is play!  Caden enjoys playing with his friends and is enjoying more independent play at home. He will pretend to cook, drive his car, build houses, etc. and has a great imagination. He also loves playdates and playing with other kids of all ages. Of course playing with Mom and Dad is lots of fun too!  He loves having a house his own size.  All of his friends love it too!

I know that song!  Caden loves singing and has memorized more songs. His favorites are "I'm in the Lord's Army" and "ABCs." But he'll also sing, "Jesus Loves Me," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat," and pieces from other songs. It's cute, we'll be driving along and he'll start singing. Or he'll be playing and start singing.



The 2s are coming and some people refer to the 2s as terrible. I like to look at these challenges as growth opportunties. Not just for me but for my child. After reading Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood by Jim Fay and Charles Fay, I have become more confident in how I react and discipline Caden. A few new things we've been experiencing over the past few months are tantrums. I stay calm, sometimes pick him up and talk softly to him. Other times I let him have his space as he cries because he doesn't get something he wants.



New car bed.  He loves it!

Sleep baby sleep!  Sleeping is going better. Caden now falls asleep in his bed unless Collin falls asleep while holding him for a few minutes then they may both fall asleep in the chair. Nap time is rare, maybe once or twice a week but he sleeps 11-12 hours at night. When he takes a nap he only sleeps 9-10 hours. It's a tiring trade-off but it's working for us. It seems like he mostly needs 11-12 hours of sleep a day with some quiet down time in the afternoon.  Below is a picture of him taking a nap in his car bed.  He asks to sleep in his car bed at night sometimes but we're not quite ready to move him over.



We really love Caden.  He is such a wonderful and happy child.  Everyday he is learning new things and exploring the world around him.