20 Months and a catch-up

Wow I have been bad at blogging recently. Here's a little overview of what's new in the life of Caiden.

Caiden hit 20 months last week. Not too much development, a few new words and a little physical advancement like the ability to climb up on the couch (sometimes), learning to drop kick a ball goalie style, and improved skills on the stairs. He definitely had a growth spurt, and it is getting harder to keep things out of his reach (and eye sight).

Over the last month Dan has been gone for two weekends. Caiden definitely misses Dan when he is not around. Anytime he sees any biggish black car he points and says "Dadda" over and over again. He does the same when he sees photos of Dan.

Here are some photos from the last few weeks.

Goofing around the house

Fun at Drumlin Farms

Experimenting with oobleck

Summer days at the beach

Lobster man!

Enter "No"

The word "no" is officially in Caiden's vocabulary. He has been saying yes for a while, but only recently did he pick up on on "no". It started out cute. The first time I heard him say it was when we were playing peekaboo a few weeks ago. It went like this:
Caiden: covers his eyes
Me: "Where is Caiden? Where did he go? Is he hiding behind the couch?"
Caiden: "No..." (still covering his eyes)
Me: "Hmm, is he under the table?"
Caiden: "No..." (still covering his eyes)
etc...

And then it got kind of useful. He used to just answer "yes" for questions even when the answer was really no. Now he knows the difference and can answer appropriately. But now he is also using it much like a 2 year old. Lots of "no no no no no!!!" when we have to do something he doesn't like (teeth brushing, diaper changing) or when we deny him something he wants. Terrible Twos seem to be right around the corner.

On another note, we discovered Nara Park this weekend. What a great beach for kids. At first Caiden was scared of the sand and refused to move his feet, but he soon warmed up and had a great time digging in the sand and splashing in the water. We'll be back!

19 months

A few things about Caiden now that he is 19 months:

-He always wants to help out. He is now a key player in unloading the dishwasher- he hands me plates one at a time. A back saver for me. Here he is helping Dan clean his car.

-He has recently taken to organizing his toys. He'll grab a bunch of his cars and put them on the couch. Then he'll move them to the ottoman. Then to his little chair. Then to the windowsill. As he moves around the house he finds more cars and add them to the pile, and he'll need to take multiple trips between each move. Here are some photos of him trying to cart around a pile of cars

Side note: this the "DAD IS HOME!!" face Caiden makes when he hears the garage door open.

-He is really taking more interest in book content. For a long time he just had fun turning the pages of books, looking at pictures, and pointing at things. Now he often sits patiently and lets us actually read the pages (unless he is tired). Below is a video of a funny thing he does when reading his "Where's the baby?" book. The last page is a mirror, you know- "the last baby is you" thing. He smashes his face into the mirror.

 

-He has mastered throwing balls, kicking balls and making baskets, and now he is working on dribbling

-He is asserting his opinion more and more as he gets older. Gone are the days when we could just pick up any old book and read it. Now Caiden has to choose or at least approve the book. If I start singing a song he isn't in the mood to hear he stops me. Before we know it he is going to want to pick out his own clothes in the morning!

Weekend away

Caiden spent an entire weekend away from us! Dan and I wanted to head up to BTT's annual training weekend together, and Dan's parents bravely took Caiden on for the weekend. We dropped Caiden off in Hanover on Friday afternoon before we headed for Waterville Valley.

I took over this joint!

Caiden had a great time with them all weekend, and they reported that he was very good. They went to a local museum

Played outside

Practiced on the flight simulator

Read lots of books, and played with some fun toys.

Meanwhile, over in Waterville, Dan and I had a very relaxing weekend. Time with friends, sleep, relaxing outside, and oh yeah a little bit of training too (but not too much).

It was terrific to have a short break away from the go-go-go of toddlerhood, but come Sunday morning we couldn't have gotten out of there faster. Anxious to see the little man. We spent a little time in Hanover playing before we hit the road.

Thanks for the fun weekend Grammy and Grandpa!

18 Month checkup

Caiden had his 18 month checkup yesterday. His stats:
Height: 33.5" (76%)
Weight:28 lbs 4 oz (76%)
Head Circ: 48.5cm (65ish%)

Dr G was impressed with Caiden's gross motor skills. He was happy with Caiden's verbal skills too, which was a relief. I estimated that he has about 10-15 regular words, which is apparently average for this age. One shot this time, and Caiden was a champ. No tears, just a flinch and a dirty look directed towards the nurse. During the appointment he kept making it clear that he wanted to return to the waiting room to watch the fish tank. We made sure to spend a few minutes there on the way out.

Best photo I could get of fish watching

A random verbal update: Caiden has starting saying this way, that way, this one, that one, etc. It sounds more like one word when he says it though. If we ask him "where do you want to go?" he'll reply "dissay".

Weekend fun

What a great weekend! Dan and I are trying out some new fitness classes a few miles from our house. On Saturday they have back to back classes so I went to the early class, Dan met me there at the end for Caiden hand-off, and he took the next one. Caiden was very reluctant to leave Dad behind, so we watched from outside for a while. Caiden kept his finger pointed at the door asking "dah? dah?". Cute. From there it was straight to swim class. Caiden gets increasingly more confident each class, it is so great. Only one more class left in the session though. Hopefully we'll get him in another class over the summer!

After nap time we headed to friend Rachel and Jeff's house for a birthday party for their 2 year old twin boys. There were a bunch of little kids there, and Caiden had an awesome time playing with them. It was great for Dan and I to be able to sit and talk with the adults while Caiden ran around with the other kiddos.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. Errands. Lots of time outside. These days, outside time always turns into an impromptu "hike" in the trails behind our house. Caiden knows the way to the trails and just marches his way down there with or without us. I think he could spend forever in the woods, but we never get too far along the trail- it takes too long. He investigates everything, and loves playing with every "tick" (stick) he sees. He also stops to grunt at bugs. Here he is leading the way on the first of four hikes yesterday

New friend

On Saturday, friends Stacy and Andrew brought their 3 month old baby Jackson over for us to meet him. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of him, but he's a cutie, and has such a great disposition. Grace, Tony and Ian came over too. Caiden wasn't feeling like himself that day (teething), but he did have fun playing basketball with Ian. Lots of giggles out of those two. We look forward to seeing this whole gang again soon.

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing. Lots of hanging outside and on the porch

Skyping with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Hank

And baking. We made Nanna some birthday cupcakes!

what do you mean these aren't for me???