I can hardly believe Caden is 21 months old. In just three short months he will be two! We need to start planning his 2nd birthday party. I have been thinking about it off and on for the past few months. I like to plan ahead!
This is a few days late because Caden has been pretty sick. We took him to the children's hospital Monday night where we spent 4.5 hours. He has a viral infection with a temperature above 104. Last night it was 104.9. Yikes!! He has also not been able to hold anything down and has not been very hungry or thirsty. Collin is also sick so it's been tiring taking care of everyone. Today has been better but the boys are not over their illnesses yet. Prayers would be appreciated.
Caden is growing and learning so much. He is such a joy to have. This past month he has started putting more words together, says "please" and "thank you" regularly, is able to distinguish several opposites, such as up and down, in and out. He will stand and say "up" then squat and say "down." Then he'll say "go upstairs" or "go downstairs" depending on which one he wants. When he's done eating he says, "All done. Get down please." He can count to 15 and has started singing the ABCs. He even sings the end of the song, "now I know my ABCs, next time won't you sing with me." He sings it at the most random time sometimes. He also loves spelling his name with his alphabet puzzle and seeing me write it. I have not worked on many new words this past month because I want to start teaching him phonics but don't want to start too early. I want learning to be fun and not forced, just natural. That being said, he is naturally picking up many new words from our conversations and from some places we don't even know. Collin and I will turn to each other and say, "did you teach him that?"
He loves to label things. Caden will go around a room and point or touch an object and name it. The wall, couch, chair, piano, stairs, door, etc. He does this with things outside too, such as puppy, bike, car, tree, etc. Collin is teaching him words in other languages once he knows that Caden has the word solidly down in English.
He only takes a nap 2-3 times a week. I have decided not to force the nap issue anymore. Somedays I can tell he needs one so he gets one. Other days he just gets quiet time for 45 minutes to an hour while I get things done around the house. We just got back from a marriage retreat in Garmisch and the boy did not nap at all in the car on the way there or back. It was a 4 hour drive each way. I don't know if not napping is genetic but it seems like he is afraid he is going to miss something. Thankfully when he doesn't nap he sleeps great at night and is usually asleep by 7-7:15. When he takes a nap, it takes him longer to fall asleep at night and will sometimes stay awake until 9pm.
Caden is a very social guy. When he walks into a room with other kids he cheerfully yells out "Hi!" as he smiles and walks over to the other kids. He loves playing with friends and will ask for them by name when they are not around.
He is not a fan of slides. This past month he has developed a fear of slides and heights. Thankfully he still loves going to the park and is interested in climbing up to the slide. However, once we are up there he freaks out and doesn't want to slide down. I take him to a place called Jump Inn a wonderful indoor play ground with lots of slides, a huge jungle gym, bounce houses, and trampolines. He would be happy staying on the ground watching everyone else climb and jump then do it himself. The other week he thought it would be fun to climb in the small soccor field and get in the middle of the a soccor game. He did not succeed because the kids were a lot bigger than he and I wasn't going to let him go there. I just try and encourage him and take him down the big slides with me. Hopefully this is just a stage.
Something we are having difficulty with is childcare. This is probably common with other children who do not attend daycare. However, I do attend a ladies' Bible study and MOPS at the military chapel 1-2 times a week. Caden cries and screams when I arrive. He has never liked going. When I walk in the door he starts saying, "Mommy, no, no, up, pick up please" wanting me to pick him up and not leave him. However, recently when he gets really upset he throws up. Last week he threw up within 5 minutes of me leaving him. I am not a fan of sneaking out because he's smart and I don't want him thinking I have to sneak away so I always say bye and tell him I'll be back. When he went to childcare Friday night at the retreat he did the same thing. Thankfully he made it almost 2 hours before he started crying and threw up. He was actually very excited to go to this place. Ironically, he has never thrown up going to Sunday School class and cries when it's time to leave. (yay Church and great teachers!) So, childcare in general doesn't seem to be a problem.
Another challenge is discipline. We want to raise a healthy, happy, confident, and well-behaved boy. We know that children need guidance and correction to keep moving in the right direction. But boy, what a mine field of a topic! Many people are so passionate about vastly differing methods of discipline even to the point of changing laws to reflect their opinions. So, we're talking to family and friends about the topic and have begun to read a couple of books to think through the issues. Thankfully he is a pretty easy going guy and minds us most of the time but we want to be prepared.
Do any of you have any good resources that you would recommend for child discipline? Please send us an email or leave a comment below.
