Learning Tower

First, here is one reason why Caiden loves basement time with Dad... they do things like this!

(turn the volume down, this is loud)

We got the idea of a toddler learning tower from Grace. Caiden has been wanting to "help" in the kitchen recently- he loves stirring pots, mixing eggs, flipping pancakes etc. It's hard to help him do that while also holding him up, so we thought it would be a good time to make a tower for him to stand on. Dan has been working on it all weekend. Looks like we will get some use out of it in the basement too... before the tower was even finished Caiden was using it to work at dad's workbench. He likes to be just like Dad, working on his remote control car!

And on an unrelated note... here is a video Nanna Nan took of Caiden feeding himself yogurt this morning!

More please!

A week ago Nanna Nan noticed that Caiden was making repetitive gestures whenever she asked him if he wanted more of something. Turns out he learned at daycare how to ask for more in sign language. Check it out!

He does this all the time now, it is so great. Daycare is this magical place where Caiden learns things like sign language and how to use utensils! Maybe one day he will come home potty trained ;) (Hey, a mom can dream!)

15 Month remix

I was a little distracted while writing the 15 month post and forgot some stuff! Here are a few things I should have mentioned!

-His latest word obsession is "Wow!!" (we still hear "uh oh" a lot too)

-Caiden loves listening to music and dancing. He will go dance in front of our stereo to let us know that he'd like us to turn the radio on. He loves visits from Mr Ron, the music man who visits daycare a few times a month. On those days he shows off his dance moves for his friends and teachers! A quick glimpse at his dancing skills:

-I can't stress enough how much he likes being in the basement. He whines while pointing at the basement door all the time, and when he realizes that Dan is taking him down there to play, he gets so excited he literally squeals in delight.

-He gets better and better at kicking/throwing balls. He winds up for maximum kicking, like so:

15 Months

Here's what is going on with Caiden now that he is 1.25!

-He really likes being in the basement. A lot. If it were up to him we would spend all day down there

-He loves being outside. He also loves looking out the window

-He is getting pretty good at using utensils to eat, thanks to daycare. Sometimes I really, really love daycare- they teach him all kinds of things. He is pretty good using a spoon, but with forks he uses his hand to try stick food on the end, and usually gives up and just puts the food right in his mouth

-He has started grabbing us by the hand and pulling us to where he wants us to be

-Anything with wheels, wings, or propellers are a big hit

 -He just started saying "wuh wuh wuh" when asked what a dog says. Every other animal growls, especially sheep.

-He is becoming a bit of a daredevil. He is fearless at times. Keeps us on our toes! 

 -His language hasn't improved much, but he understands so much of what we say. Clever kiddo.

New Years

Happy New Year! We made a trip to Burlington VT for New Years. We stopped in Hanover on our way up for a visit with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Hank. A few hours later we hit the road again and met up with Dave Mak, Grace, Tony, and Ian in Burlington. We had an early NYE dinner, put the kiddos to bed, and then the adults had fun catching up.

The next day we had a great breakfast and a fun trip to the local aquarium. They don't have tons of fish there, but it's a great place for kids. 

Despite all the fish, turtles, and water tables, I think Caiden's favorite part of the aquarium was this interactive computer screen. He was cracking up.

We had a great time, but went home a day earlier than planned. Caiden must have caught party fever- he was up all night, likely keeping half the hotel up as well. We wanted to prevent a repeat performance (and get some sleep ourselves...)

Post Christmas

We've really been enjoying a little time off around these holidays. Here are a few pictures from the past week.

Snuggling with his new monkey

learning how to drive his own race car

Driving the race car on his own!

Ho Ho Ho!

What a great Christmas!! On the morning of Christmas Eve Caiden and I spent some time with Nana Nan. Dan was in New Hampshire the previous night to attend a friend's engagement party, and he returned later on Christmas Eve with his parents, who stayed with us for a few nights. We had a nice evening at home with them. Caiden loved playing with his new chair, a gift from his grandparents!

On Christmas morning, we did presents.Santa didn't visit this year, but Caiden got lots of wonderful gifts from our families. We tried to entice him to come over and open a present, but he just came over to grab the bow off of the gift and then ran back to his toys. He still doesn't get the gift thing (which is fine by us!!). We even got away with leaving a few toys in their boxes.We'll bring them out later when he needs a change of scenery.

He mostly did this while we opened his presents

We hosted an afternoon Christmas dinner at our house with Grandma Judy, Grandpa Hank, Grandpa Jack, Grandma Madeline, Great Grandma Esther, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Margaret & Doug. It was a delicious meal! We were hoping that Caiden would be napping while we ate, but just this weekend he stopped taking two naps at home. He now takes one midday nap and of course woke up just as we were sitting down to eat. He did very well though, he ate a little bit and spent the rest of the time playing with his new toys and running around the table giving out hugs and  interacting with everyone.

These stacking boxes from Grandpa Jack were a big hit, he loves knocking them down.

What a great day!! We all hit the sack early... in our new matching PJs!!

Check out this great movie that Aunt Elizabeth made. She did such a fabulous job... it was my favorite gift!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLDGjev4IIQ&feature=youtu.be