A Two-for: 18 & 19 Months!

WARNING: VERY LONG POST!! For the bored, not for the busy! :) Enjoy!

For those of you who know my normal bloggin' routine, you know that I am WAY BEHIND on Caden's monthly posts! Like TWO MONTHS behind...eek! July came and went in such a flurry that it became clear that his 18 Month post was most assuredly going to have to join his 19 Month post. It's a two-for-one kind of deal and who can ever pass up a two-for?! I know, I can't! :) Especially a "two-for" about this sweet little face...

Since we've got a lot of ground to cover and since I don't want to miss a THING... because you know eventually I'll get caught up on getting my entries turned into a book... EVENTUALLY! Until then let's just all pray that the world wide web doesn't up and crash on us! :)

To make sure I catch it all, I'm going to be SUPER generic and break it down into categories...creativity is just going to have to take a back seat for this one! I haven't added this much detail is several months... so brace yourselves this could be a doozy!! Feel free to move on to the pictures...the details are more for me!

Caden's Stats:

We still haven't made it to our 18 month well check... that's tomorrow, but as you know we've been to the doctor a few times lately so I know the weight... I'll have to update his length tomorrow afternoon!

Weight: 30 lbs and some change
Height: TBA
Tooth Count: 12 (just had a new one pop through last night!) He has his top four, bottom four and two molars on both top and bottom.
Head Circumference: BIG! :)

Caden's Overall Health:

Caden has had a rough summer, he's getting over his 2nd ear infection that he got from the croup's left-over yumminess. Last week, when he had the croup he ran a fever for 5 days straight, longest ever. It was the first of hopefully not too many times when he was REALLY sick. BUT coming out on the other side feels great... a mommy and Caden milestone for sure!

In between our sick visits to the pedi, Caden had to visit the dentist after a cracked tooth twice in the past two months, both times he cried! A lot! And he also had to visit the ENT to discuss the fluid in his ears. We discussed the possibility of tubes to relieve the fluid and help Caden hear better which will likely help his speech catch up. He is very VERBAL but only has a few words we understand and even those words are said "incorrectly." The doctor told us, Caden is walking around with his thumbs sticking in his ears... or at least that is how well he is able to hear! When he gave us that analogy it was hard to not strongly consider the option of putting tubes in his ears. AND with two ear infections this summer, outside of the normal cold and flu season, we are almost 100% sure that we'll be headed for tubes late this summer or early fall.

We have been VERY fortunate overall with our little man... he's been a healthy, active kid and for that we are VERY grateful. The blessing of a healthy kid is certainly not lost on us!

Caden's Eating Habits:

So obviously you don't get to be 30 lbs by being picky, but Caden definitely has some strong preferences for certain foods. He isn't much into veggies BUT loves fruit, so I'm picking my battles wisely over the veggies. He is starting to eat pretty much anything we eat. In the past few months he has tried several new foods and loves them all:

spaghetti
chicken enchiladas
muffins
m&ms
chicken fried rice
chips and salsa (we've upgraded from queso and guac to straight up salsa!!)

His favorite foods are most definitely bean and cheese burritos/quesadillas, bananas and goldfish but he's added some new favorites this summer: french fries, strawberries, chex mix, and of course popsicles.

His favorite places to eat are:

Gloria's for the black bean dip alone
Mighty Fine Burgers for the fries
Taco Bueno (because he is his Momma's child!! Party burrito, anyone?!)

His favorite drink is still water and he drinks that most of the day. Occasionally, like when we go out or he is sick and won't drink anything else he drinks Sprite and LOVES it. We always know when it is a good one because his eyes will start watering! Hilarious! He likes the burn! AND you all know how much he loves his coffee! I've finally given up and fix him 3/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup coffee every morning! AND he loves me for it! :)

Caden's Sleeping Habits:

He's a champ when it comes to sleeping! All of that hard work when he was 4 months old has surely paid off when it comes to nap times. He is a "one-napper" now and has been for several months. Most days he gets in a 2+ hour nap, but more often than not he stretches it to 3 hours. He goes down between 12:30 and 1:00 most days.

Caden is still an early bedtime guy which is fine by Justin and I because it gives us a little mini-date night each and every night. He is usually in bed between 7:30 and 8:00 each night, of course his nighttime dude routine starts anywhere between 7:00 and 7:30. Most mornings, he wakes up between 7:00 and 7:30, although occasionally he lays and plays until 8:00.

Playing Around the House:

Caden is always on the go! He is up and around finding new and fun things to do all the time. He is VERY into videos, but mainly enjoys them for the background noise. In between his playing he will pause and stand in front of the TV and then move on to the next thing.

He still loves playing with balls... all of them: basketballs, footballs, soccer ball, playground balls. He loves his broom and his garden tools. He has just started rolling his cars and trucks around the house, although this typically doesn't keep his interest for long. He loves being destructive, pulling toys out of toy chest, off of shelves, etc. At the end of the day the house can be a bit scary. A lot of times I pick up while he's napping so he can have a fresh start!

KK and Albi recently bought him some cookware at IKEA and he really LOVES that. He is always fascinated with the kitchens in his girlfriend's rooms and of course at church. SO I'm pretty sure finding a boy kitchen might be in our future. :)

He LOVES to wrestle and play on the floor and on the couch with both Justin and I. He and Justin are much rougher when they wrestle and Caden and I are more snuggly, although there are times when he forgets who he's playing with and gets a bit aggressive! I've had my fair share of "ouch" moments! :) We'll talk about this more under the discipline category! Ha!

Caden is VERY interested in shoes! He loves trying on all of the shoes that we leave by the stairs to take up. He especially LOVES when Daddy comes home from work and takes off his boots. He sits on the stairs and tries to put them on for several minutes before we help him out. His boots are TOO heavy for Caden to walk around his just yet, but BOY does he try! He can't even take ONE step! Haha!!

He loves stickers and is starting to like to color, although actually he just likes crayons... pulling them our of the bag and throwing them around the room, or chewing on them! :) But we're working on it! I hope he likes to color one day because I LOVE it! :)

Caden's Words:

Like I mentioned before, Caden is VERY verbal and ALWAYS has something to say, but we only have a few words that we can make out. His favorite words are, "yah" and "uh-oh" and last week when he was sick he learned to say "no" but it actually sounds like "dough." Nothing like feeling TERRIBLE to make those verbal skills come to life! Are you okay, Caden? "DOUGH!" Poor, sweet boy! Learning to say no has helped some with our communication, and we are just starting to experience the "talking back" side of the word "no" too! And I know there will be MORE where that came from! :)

Other words are:

"hello" which sounds like "ho"
"ball" which sounds like "bawl"
"bowl" which sounds like "bo-al"
"over there" which sounds like "ober der"
"outside" which sounds like "sigh"
"I don't know" which is just sounds "ah, ah, ah" with the same intonation and inflection as we would say, "I don't know!" :)
"bicycle" which sounds like "bi-yowl"
"popsicle" which sounds like "pa-pa"

He has a few random words here and there that we think, "did he just say bear?" but for the most part he's limited to lots of mumbles and babbles with the words above sprinkled in! :) Hopefully, once we get those ears cleared out he'll be able to hear better and start to pick up a few more words! Until then, we'll just giggle while we try to decipher his sweet little Caden-language! He is NOT afraid to use his pointer figure to help us figure it out! He is a pointing-expert and can double-point when he needs emphasis!

Caden's Favorites:

SONGS TO SING/LISTEN TO:


Caden LOVES music! He loves to listen to his music in the car and we can rarely keep him happy without it! During long trips we use our DVD player but for around town we be-bop to the musical stylings of the Cedarmont Kids! We know all three CDs by heart!! ALL of them! :) We gotta get some new tunes!!

His favorite songs to sing are:

The Wheels On the Bus (he can now do the motions!! SO SO SO CUTE!! Especially when he does the "people on the bus go up and down" in his car seat! Hilarious!)
The Animal Fair
Boom, Boom Ain't It Great to Be Crazy
ALL of his church songs: Our God is Great, What a Mighty God We Serve, Praise Ye the Lord, The Lord's Army, The Bubble Song, Jump Into the Light, He's Got the Whole World In His Hands, God Loves You, The Happy Song, etc.)

Last week when we had to sit in the bathroom with the steamy shower going we sang those songs over and over again. He tells us which song he wants to sing by doing the hand motions that go with that particular song. Sometimes it is very hard to tell which one he wants so we just start singing the one we think it is, but now since he knows how to say "dough" he lets us know when we've guessed wrong! We were cracking up the other night because we kept guessing wrong and then finally we guessed right!! We were so excited! He is VERY sure of what songs he wants to sing and when!

And he likes to sing the songs we're learning from Yo Gabba Gabba!



Caden's Favorite Videos and TV:


Speaking of Yo Gabba Gabba... we are SO grateful to DJ Lance for entertaining our lil man enough to help him like something besides the ONE Wiggles DVD we own and our Praise Baby videos. Poor thing is SO a creature of habit and we are SO excited that he likes Yo Gabba Gabba enough to watch it occasionally. He really likes to watch it with me so I can help him do all of the stuff they do on TV, especially during Dancey-Dance!! His favorite Dancey-Dances are the Twirly-Whirly and the Disco Roll! I must admit... I'm kind of loving our new friends from Gabbaland... they are pretty fun!! :)



Caden's Favorite Books:


CADEN loves books! Last week we did LOTS of reading on the couch! It was really, sweet and fun until he insisted that I read the SAME THREE BOOKS over and over again!! They must be his feel good books!! OH MY GOODNESS though... I seriously think we read each one at least 20 times a day... at least!! :) I love reading, but I was really ready to switch it up!


His "sick books" are:


What Color Are Your Underwear?
Baby, I Love You So Much
The Very Lonely Firefly



Other favorites:


Bad Dog Marley (LOVES this book)
Goodnight Gorilla
I Love You So
Green Eggs and Ham
Hop on Pop
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Recent Library Favs:

Bark Park
Hurry, Hurry

Caden's Friends and Family:

Caden is blessed with TWO sets of excellently loving and super fun grandparents. He has two sets of young and hip aunts and uncles and lots of extended family members including 2nd cousins, great aunts, and great grandparents who love him to the moon and back! He is certainly not short on the family love! AND he loves them all back ten-fold! He is a HUGE fan of the grandparents... they're definitely the favs after his Mommy and Daddy of course! He certainly knows Nana and Paps and KK and Albi by name and gets excited when we mention their names! He loves to look at pictures of them and gets the biggest smile on his face when he sees them!

His Mommy and Daddy are of course his favorite two people on earth! Duh! :) He has been really funny about wanting to look at our wedding album lately... he points and waits for me to tell him who everyone is! It's one of his favorite games! He is definitely a Momma's boy, full of hugs and kisses and all sorts of special loving for me, BUT boy does he really love his Daddy! There is a whole different side of Caden that comes out when Justin is home... he loves to show-off and horse-around with his Daddy! Those dudes have A LOT of fun and nothing makes my heart happier than watching them in action, especially when they wrestle! :)

As far as friends are concerned Caden LOVES being around other kids! He is especially intrigued by older kids. He is super friendly and is not afraid to approach other kids at the pool and park. A few weeks ago, in fact he was VERY intrigued by a little boy at the pool who was 4. He was super sweet to Caden and would wave at Caden when Caden would wave at him, etc. After a while of this back and forth, Caden had finally had enough and walked over to him and gave him a hug. The poor kid was a little caught off guard, but he was really sweet and returned the gesture! It was a super sweet moment between pool buddies! :)

Even though he has several friends that he loves, I think his friend-heart belongs to Ava! She's his bestie! He gets super excited when we mention her name and definitely misses her when we don't get to see her!

Oh, the Places Caden Goes:

Caden's favorite place to go is HEB! He says, "ooooooo" when we drive past and gets super excited when we pull into the parking lot. He loves free cookies and certainly loves the free balloons and the last two times we've been Caden has also scored HEB swag from one of his favorite HEB employees! :) She and Caden are buds!

Second favorite place: the POOL! Again, he "ooooooo's" when we drive by and is sad we he picks up his bathing suit and I say "no!" Being sick in the summer is a total bummer for Caden! He wants to go to the pool every day! :) He is VERY brave in the water but is not able to support himself with floaties yet, but that doesn't seem to stop his fun! He's getting better and better at jumping in off the side and loves to walks on his hands in the shallow, shallow swim deck area at one of our neighborhood pools! He loves to explore the areas around the pool and of course is always ready for a dude snack, poolside! Overall, going to the pool for Caden is an experience, one to be savored and enjoyed! :)

Caden and I go to the library at least once a week to swap our books/videos in and out. Since it's summer we aren't going to church during the week for Bible study which leaves us at Sundays. He loves going to church and has been blessed with a GREAT team of nursery workers who love and spoil him to pieces, especially those first hour workers! ;) For now our separation anxiety is minimal if at all, but I know that it can continue to get worse/better for the next several years! We're praying that he continues to be excited about going to church!

In the last two months Caden has been to: Abilene, San Antonio, Waco, Port Aransas, Possum Kingdom and this week we'll be heading to Concan on the Frio! :)

Caden's Chores:

Caden has become a GREAT helper! He still feeds the dogs every night and picks up their bowls when they are finished. He LOVES to pick up trash and take it to the trash can. He is great at cleaning our the lint drawer in the dryer and is super helpful in loading the washer. Sweeping, mopping and vacuuming are still right up his alley and he has even taken a liking to scrubbing the toilets! Okay so not really on the toilet thing but I bought a new toilet brush the other day and he thought that was the COOLEST thing he'd ever seen! Ha! Too bad I had to use it... no more fun for Caden! :)

Disciplining Caden:

Overall Caden is a pretty good kiddo, but like everyone he has his hot buttons! He is definitely becoming more toddler-like by the day. He has a problem with hitting, kicking, stomping-on and even biting when he gets frustrated or too fired up. We are working on this and have found that time out isn't the best solution for this type of thing. A good old fashioned stern voice, grab him by the arms talkin' to seems to be doing the trick most of the time, but he is definitely keeping me on my toes in the discipline department. I always have to be one step ahead of him and I'll admit there are times that he wins! Daddy and I have a few other tricks up our sleeve so watch out Chade! (Or at least we are telling ourselves this!)

He is definitely the type of kid to push the limits and certainly does lots of things throughout the day that require a no or stop, but the hitting, biting, kicking, stomping-on thing is our biggest battle right now. I pick my battles and this one is definitely an important one to fight! :)

Caden's Personality:

Caden is a character! He is constantly entertaining us and is pretty darn good at it! He loves to dance and be silly when people are watching! He also loves putting on a show with his basketball hoop! He loves people and is outgoing most of the time. He still has moments where he puts on the shy face, but it doesn't last long. He is SUPER DUPER tenderhearted and can be very sensitive at times. He is sweet and loving and is very affectionate. He is stubborn and energetic and often doesn't take no for an answer nor does he obey the word "no" on the first, second or even third commands! :) He loves to laugh, especially if the joke's on him! He's a TON OF FUN and a great guy to spend my days with! :)

And I think I'm done! All out of categories... although I am sure I could come up with a few more! :)

I love this little guy to the moon and back and feel so very fortunate to get to spend all of my time with him. I love my job as his Mommy! I often get overwhelmed by HOW much I love him and enjoy being his Mommy. And I may or may not be known to have all out cry-fests (with the ugly cry face!)where I say things like, "I just love him SOOO much! It hurts! It really does! Oh it's so hard to love him SO much!" Hahaha, kind of embarrassing BUT that's what he does to me... that's what all kids do to their parents! It's hard, I tell ya... this much love hurts! :) Caden makes motherhood feel pretty darn special! What a blessing children are to their parents! :)

Happy 18 and 19 Months Cade-man! I love you!!

(Pictures were taken today in a little at home photo-shoot!)