Caden is 2 years old today! I can hardly believe two years have already gone by and I now have a two year old. So much has changed during these last two years. This time last year he had recently started walking, he was beginning to really "talk," and learning to feed himself with a fork and spoon. Now he's talking in sentences, running, jumping, and becoming more independent. For the most part he feeds himself every meal and does a pretty good job. Caden is very smart. We have people that we know and don't know comment on how smart he is for his age and how clearly he speaks. He gets things really easily and understands a lot.
A few changes for our sweet son include no more scheduled naps. He has officially given up napping for the most part. However, occassionally he will still take one but I no longer try and "force" him to take a nap. He sleeps great at night and just doesn't seem to need one. He also has been sleeping in his car bed. Last Thursday he asked to sleep in his car bed (which is a toddler bed). Collin said he could so Caden walked over and got in bed and went to sleep. Friday night I put him to bed and put him in his crib. But Saturday night and tonight he is sleeping in his big boy bed. I can't believe my baby is no longer a baby!!
The newest things he's doing since last month besides testing his limits such as trying to climb on things he is not allowed to climb on, such as the couch, is he now knows the alphabet letter sounds. I've been studying how to teach him to read. I decided I'm going to primarilly use the phonic approach rather than the whole language approach. He's known the alphabet since he was 18 months old and we've been going over letter sounds the past month. Last week he brought me his wooden letter board and wanted to play ABC. So I quized him and he knew all of the letter sounds! Since then we've played on and off and he has got it down. Caden impresses me! One of my friends asked if I use flash cards with him. And no, I don't. We have not used flash cards or workbooks. I'm just very hands-on and I teach through play. I went to a Montessori preschool and attended Montessori school through third grade. While I don't necessarily agree 100% with their methods, overall I agree with a lot of their elements. I am also a very hands-on parent, Collin and I both are. Also I think Caden is just naturally smart. =)
Caden's language abilities are also improving including his math skills. He can count in three languages - English, German, and Spanish. He can count to 20 in English, will go up to 20 sometimes in German but usually stops at 10, and 10 in Spanish. I have been impressed with his counting abilities and his memory in general. He remembers people and their names sometimes better than me. For example we will meet someone, have a short interaction, then later he talks about them, then if he sees a picture of them or we run into them again, he says their name. He'll say something like, "there's Joey. Joey come play." In fact we went to Joey's house yesterday for small groups. When I said "we're going to Joey's house," he said, "Ms. Ami's house. Joey's mom, Ami." Ami is indeed Joey's mom. I did not mention Ami's name at all, only Joey's. He makes these kind of connections pretty frequently.
Here's another interesting thing Caden did recently. Collin was driving with him somewhere and listening to a language CD. This was a language he had never heard. When the instructor prompted listeners to repeat a word Caden did so. Later when they saw me, Collin asked him what a word was in this new language and Caden said it. He remembered the new word in the new language. Caden also pronounces things very well. I barely could say this word. Thankfully Caden seems to take after his dad in the language arena.
One really cool thing Caden did tonight was he said the prayer before dinner. He "prays" at night with us but this was the first time he prayed to God all by himself. Sometimes when we're done praying he'll keep praying. But tonight we asked him if he wanted to say the prayer. He said, "yes, please" then proceeded to pray to God. He even thanked God for everyone at the table. We were so proud and we know God was too. I am trying to decide which Bible verses for us to start memorizing. He already knows several songs and knows the concept of prayer so I'd like to impress God's Word in his heart as well.
Since we had Caden's birthday party last Saturday, we wanted to do something small but fun today. Since it was raining, Collin and I decided to take Caden to lunch at Hoeffner, which is a big department store with a restaurant on the 5th floor. They have a toy area where kids can play and it's close to Collin's work. Caden had a great time. This evening we invited both of our next door neighbors over for dinner. The Hollenbeck's came over and Jana and their daughter, Micha, even made dinner! Wow, that was a nice surprise! She also made a special birthday card with a fold-out bird beak and gave him a cute sheep car and awesome German rain pants. It looks like the rain won't be able to stop us much longer with these pants! I made cupcakes and our German neighbor, Michael, came over with a gift for Caden and joined us for dessert. Caden loves our neighbors and we feel so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people.
Caden also enjoyed talking with his grandparents today. We got to Skype with Opa Charlie and Caden just missed Grand-Cathy. He enjoyed talking on the phone with NeNe and Granddad Jim as well. We wished we could have celebrated his birthday in person with extended family but are so glad to live in the age of technology.
Happy birthday Caden! We love you and are so glad we have you as our son.
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