One More Before Two!

One More Before TWO! Wow! Caden and I have been practicing his two sign all day. He can say two, but the finger thing is taking it to an entirely new level. Good thing we've got a month to work on it! Each month there are SO many things to record about my budding little man, but this month can really be summed up in one simple sentence: "My name is Caden Cox and I LOOOOOVE to talk!"

I can't get over it really. My little man who was ALWAYS too busy to find the time to use his words has decided that communication really isn't all too bad after all! AND it gets a ROUSING reaction from his biggest fans, so why stop now?!! Each day he busts out with a new word... and every time I'm shocked... you'd think I'd be used to it by now and that the THRILL of a new word wouldn't excite me to the very core, BUT it does!

I love our little conversations and I am enchanted EVERY time he talks to one of his family members on the phone. There is not a day that goes by that we don't talk to KK at least twice and Nana and Bop and Aunt Ree Ree and Uncle Josh too. He loves the chance to show off his talking skills with anyone who is willing to participate. Caden and I have several conversations a day as you might imagine but my favorite little bit that we do is:

Caden: "Nana!"
Mommy: "Nana?! Where is Nana?!"
Caden: "Weight-co!"
Mommy: "Waco?! Who else is in Waco with Nana?"
Caden: "Bop!"
Mommy: "And who else?"
Caden: "eeeeeee" (with his paw up in the air, which means the Sic 'Em Bears!)
Mommy: "That's right the Bears live in Waco!"
Caden: "Ree Ree, Tag!"
Mommy: "Ree Ree and Tag?! Where are Ree Ree and Tag?"
Caden: "Weight-co!"
Mommy: "No, Ree Ree and Tag live in Houston."
Caden: "oooo-ston"
Mommy: "That's right!"
Caden: "Tay-Tay, Aldi?"
Mommy: "Where are KK and Albi?"
Caden: "Caaar"
Mommy: "In the car? But where do KK and Albi live, Caden?"
Caden: "Weight-co!"
Mommy: "No KK and Albi don't live in Waco, they live in San Antonio."
Caden: "Say-yo!"
Mommy: "What about Josh and Emily?"
Caden: "Jock, Em-ee."
Mommy: "Yah, where do they live? Remember four claps, just like Nana taught you."
Caden: 4 claps and some babble
Mommy: "That's right Nacogdoches!"

And there you have it... the geography of a family... all of us! We have that conversation AT LEAST 10 times a day. So in between that and singing That Good Old Baylor Line we don't have much time for anything else! :) Joke, joke! Caden's favorite things are still the park and HEB... and CVS takes a close third since he gets to drive the carts with the cozy coup attached. He is doing GREAT in school, and has really taking a HUGE liking to one of the girls in his class or so I hear. It makes my heart happy to hear that he is kind to his friends... I pray each day that his kind and gentle spirit is something that sticks around... it's a treasure to behold!

Now that's not to say that my little man can't be quite the trouble maker because he can. In fact after a BLATANT act of disobedience at school one day (refusing to take a nap and disrupting the other kids) and getting sent to the office to sit while the others slept, I had a mini-mommy-meltdown and YET again changed my discipline strategy. And so far so good... he's always keeping me honest and I think that's probably a really good thing. Just when I think we're getting comfortable, he springs one on me! I wake up each morning and remind myself, "I am his mother, not his friend!" And guess what?! Turns out that being his MOTHER is the best thing I've ever done!

Happy 23 Months Sweet Boy! I love you to the moon and back and back again and again and again!

23 Month Photo Shoot took us to the front our neighborhood in our Christmas Duds! Enjoy...