Trying something new

Check us out on our new blog site: http://meranddan.wordpress.com/

I am trying to get around the no flash on apple products thing. Not sure I will stick with it (and I haven't figured out how to get old videos to import over), but I'll let you know if I switch back.

Why we don't post more videos

We take lots of videos of Caiden. We'll start recording when he is doing something funny or cute. It only lasts until he sees the camera. Then, game over!

Meet #2

The cat is out of the bag- Caiden will be a big brother in October! 

Last week we had an ultrasound. Technically it was the nuchal translucency ultrasound, which is for detecting down syndrome, but we just wanted the ultrasound. It was a week later in the pregnancy than when we did it with Caiden- 13 weeks instead of 12 weeks- and I don't know if timing was the difference or if it was this baby's position, or if they've just gotten newer equipment, but it was so much more clear this time. We could see everything so well- nose, hands, toes, knees, spine- so cool. #2 had a heart rate around 155 and measured at 3ish inches. 

The ultrasound made this pregnancy feel real. Of course I've known that I was pregnant for a long time, but this put it all together. There's a little squirmy baby in there. It's amazing how much they move even at this young gestational age. We got to see all kinds of acrobatics.

The doctors got all the measurements they needed very quickly, unlike last time with Caiden where it took a half hour! Dan is convinced this means that #2 will be an easier baby :)

I went straight to see Dr A afterwards, although she was so busy they gave me the option to see a NP. I jumped on that chance so I could get back to work quickly. And boy was it the fastest OB appointment I've ever had! We didn't need to take any measurements or check the heartbeat, since I had just come from an ultrasound. She answered a few questions and I was on my way!

Caiden has no idea what's coming. The concept doesn't seem to be sinking in. But he is very excited about the tractor on his shirt.

2.5

Caiden is 2 and a half! What a fun age. It just keeps getting better! Here is what he is up to

-He is starting to prefer eating meals at the table. For a long time he liked eating up at the counter, in his learning tower, but for the last few months he'll state that he wants to eat at the table. We're much more in the habit of doing family meals now, which is great. A good habit to get into. 

-He is going through a sleeping like a teenager phase. He just does NOT want to wake up in the mornings. Great on the weekends, kind of a pain during the week. I'm sure it's a phase he will grow out of (probably on a Saturday morning).

-Caiden is doing really well at school. Every day his teachers tell us that he was the easiest, most well behaved, obedient kid in the class. Every day that surprises us! But I am very glad he is well behaved there.

-We are slowly introducing the potty. He likes to sit on it- and has been asking to do so all the time, especially at daycare, but he doesn't yet understand the concept of actually going while sitting on it. We're working on it.

-Caiden has applied his new ability to identify bad guys in his favorite movies to real life. This embarrassed me in public last week, when we saw a gruff looking man delivering food to daycare. We had just gotten out of the car and were about 20 feet away from the man when Caiden pointed at him and asked "He's a bad one?"

-Kids say the funniest things. It is a riot to hear him talk to himself while he is playing. Here is a conversation he had in the bathtub, which had Dan and I rolling on the floor with laughter. He was playing with a bath toy, a rubber duck I think: "don't drink the water! That's disgusting! Spit it out. Blech!!"

-There are a few times where I get home from my morning crossfit late, and don't get a chance to shower before Dan leaves for work. On those days, I let Caiden watch part of a movie while I take a shower. Even though it doesn't happen often, he's come to associate me taking a shower with him watching TV. There have been a few times, after school maybe, where he has said: "I want to watch a movie. Mom, go take a shower!" Nice try. It's amazing how such a high energy kid can morph into such a couch potato when a TV is around. We limit usage!

Sharon weekend

We spent a fun weekend in Sharon visiting Grace, Tony, Ian, and Dave Mak. We got to celebrate Dave's birthday and have lots of fun! Caiden took a while to warm up, but once he did he had a grand time. Everything Ian did, he wanted to do. Ian coughed into his arm, Caiden coughed into his arm. Ian asked for milk, Caiden asked for milk. Ian chased the orange RC car, Caiden chased it too.

He also loved the swing set and sandbox

And seeing "Jane the puppy", once he got over his initial fear of her.

Before bed the boys read books together

And the next morning, had some breakfast together

Caiden had so much fun that he took a 3 hour nap when we got home. When he finally woke up, he asked to go back to Ian's house. Sorry kiddo!

Spring weather

We're getting some great spring weather around here. Lots of outside time! I recently read a post on a local mother's forum, a mother of a child around the same age as Caiden was asking for advice on what kinds of toys she should get to encourage her kid to spend more time outside. I got a chuckle out of that... all we need are rocks, sticks, and a puddle and Caiden could literally be outside all day long. A soccer ball doesn't hurt either.

Pondering life over a Lara Bar

We're starting to get back into our old Saturday morning gym routine. I go to class at 7:30, Dan and Caiden meet me there afterwards, and then Caiden and I hang around and play outside while Dan works out with the 8:30 class. We found a marsh behind the gym, and a pile of rocks not too far away. Caiden spent a half hour straight walking back and forth, picking up rocks, throwing them in the marsh. Splash, laugh, repeat. He learned that he could throw the smaller rocks further, so any big rocks were handed over to me for "Mom's turn"

When Dan is done, we get to goof around on the exercise equipment

 Happy that Dan is done!

This picture shows Caiden's preferred hugging style- cheek to cheek. If my hair is in the way, he will brush it out of the way to make room for direct cheek to cheek contact.

Easter bunny

We had a great Easter. It started with an Easter basket. It was just a few toys, but Caiden had a great time playing with them all morning.

Then we headed over to Nana's for brunch. He wasn't much in the mood for eating, but he did spend some time at the table being goofy. He is in a big goofy mode recently.

After nap, we headed outside for an Easter egg hunt. It was such a beautiful day!

He had his first taste of candy. He well remembered that candy is "for eating" and that he found it in the yellow easter egg.

We played outside a little longer and then headed back home. A fun day!

Quick Trip

Caiden and I made a quick trip to Vermont last weekend. Dan had a college buddies trip to Lehigh, so I thought a mother-son weekend was in order. We left at naptime on Friday. He did great in the car- played happily for an hour or so and then fell asleep for almost the rest of the drive. During the portions of the trip he was awake, he did a lot of narrating about what he saw. At one point he noted that trucks passing by were too loud, and he asked me to turn them off.

We spent Friday afternoon/evening wandering around Burlington and grabbing dinner. He always loves exploring new places.

We had a rocky night on Friday- our room was directly above the lobby bar area in the hotel, where they had a live band. We were both awake until the wee hours of the morning.

Despite limited sleep we had a fun morning in Burlington. We went to the Skinny Pancake for crepes, then over to the aquarium for some fun.

I must remember to always bring a spare pair of pants with us to this place. He most of the time there playing with the boats in the waterway and ends up pretty wet. He did also enjoy seeing the turtles and big fish, though.

We ended up driving home Saturday, as we were both pretty tired and the weather was pretty raw up there. He conked out as soon as we hit the highway. It was a short trip, but great quality time. I'm looking forward to going back when it's warmer.

Mini update

Caiden is so much fun these days. The more he can communicate, the happier he is. A happy Caiden is a fun Caiden. Over the last week he started with the "why" questions. So funny.

Lately Caiden has been testing us a little more than usual. It seems like his days of epic meltdowns are fading (we still get them occasionally, but they are much easier to manage), but he tests our resolve with defiant behavior more often. It's a trade off I can handle.

who me?

We had our first parent "teacher" conference last week. It went pretty well, although his teachers expressed concern over his fine motor skills and communication. We don't agree, he can do things like draw, assemble legos, operate utensils, remove stickers from their paper, etc. And they said they'd like to hear more 5-7 word sentences from him more often. We hear tons of 10+ sentence words from him at home. They aren't grammatically perfect, but he is on target for his age. Caiden loves his teachers and friends at school, but this just added to our list of frustrations with this place. But all is good- Caiden will be starting a new school in September, maybe a little earlier. I can't wait.

Sleep has been really, really good lately. He is still in his crib. There have been several occasions where I caught him with one foot up on the railing, but I tell him he would get a big boo boo if he tried that- and he gives up. He is definitely physically capable of climbing out,  so we're sure to keep the gate at the top of the stairs closed anytime he is in there.

Aunt Elizabeth recently brought Caiden a new book of all the Pixar characters. He hasn't seen all the Pixar movies, but the ones he has seen are his favorites- toy story, cars, bugs life, finding nemo, monsters inc. To say he enjoys this book would be an understatement.

Caiden and his guys

Caiden loves toting his guys all over the house. It's not always the same guys, just whoever is around or whoever his current favorites are. But moving them around the house can keep him entertained for quite a while. Here he is having breakfast with the guys of the hour.

Bedtime can get crowded as his collection grows. I often go in after he falls asleep and remove some of his friends.

He has taken to helping himself to tupperware to store his smaller guys in. I keep finding random tubs and lids all over the place.

Caiden and the grapefruit

I was surprised to find out a few weeks ago that Caiden likes grapefruit!

Sometimes it is tricky digging out the sections!

I broke the mustang!

Dan got Caiden a little model airplane a few weeks ago. A P-51 Mustang. Right away Caiden (accidentally) broke of 2/3 of the propellor blades. Yesterday he broke off part of the tail. He asked me to fix it, and I gave him the usual "we need Dad for that" speech. As Dan was due home any minute, Caiden went to wait for him by the window. He stood there waiting for Dad, yelling out the window about the broken Mustang and needing glue and whatnot. I got the camera out and caught a minute of it:

And also caught him showing Dan the issue through the window... when Dan was pulling in the driveway.

Nemo found us

Well the weatherman was right- we got a lot of snow! Blizzard Nemo started Friday- Dan and I worked from home and daycare closed at noon. Which is good, since driving was banned starting at 4!

When we woke up Saturday, we had a lot of snow on the ground. I'm not sure exactly how much, but over 18 inches. We waited until Dan cleared a little snow from the driveway before we headed out. Caiden kept an eye on the snow blowing.

We spent a while outside, both before and after nap. We played in the snow, took Caiden out in the sled down the street (driving ban was in effect until late afternoon), went sledding in the yard, went for a snow shoe adventure in the back woods, and of course ran one of Dan's RC cars. A fun day! Ready for another one tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a little warmer- today was pretty windy and cold.