Two Years Old!!!

Caeden, getting ready to eat cake,

at his second birthday party!

I know...I know...I've been so bad at updating my blog this past month.  But we're back!  And Caeden is now a big two-year-old!!  The day of his birthday I just kept thinking how he wasn't a "baby" anymore...He's my little boy.  He's just growing up so fast!  So I decided that each month, I'm going to do a short summary of what he's doing that month, just so I can keep record.  Not sure why I haven't done this before!  But here's my first summary of Caeden as a TWO-YEAR-OLD!!!

EATING
Overall, Caeden is a very good eater.  Most meals, he will eat whatever we put in front of him - or at least eat an adequate amount.  Our rule with him is that he take at least one bite...because usually he likes it after that.  If he doesn't like it, we don't force him to eat it (but I don't make him anything else either).  Usually there's at least a side dish that he'll eat enough of. 

When we pray before our meals, he does a great job of stopping, folding his hands, and sitting still.  He doesn't pray on his own at meals yet, but I know that will come.

PLAYING
As always, Caeden is one of the busiest boys you'll ever meet!  One of his new favorite things is just running.  Even though he's been able to run for several months now, he now likes to just run all over the house.  He and Ella will chase each other in circles around the table for a really long time!  Or he and daddy will run back and forth across the kitchen, giggling, for 15-20 minutes straight.  He had a babysitter the other night and she said all he wanted to do was run back and forth across the house - and of course he wanted her to run with him.  And she did!  That's how you know a great babysitter!  She said, "I decided I need as much energy as him."  Don't I say that every day?

Right now, his favorite toy is his train table that he got for his birthday.  He literally plays with it during most of his waketime during the day.  And of course, he loves to play outside!

SLEEP
Caeden's naptime is pretty normal.  He falls asleep after lunch - around 1ish - and sleeps almost 1.5 hours.  He is typically ready for his nap at this time, and falls asleep pretty easily.

His nighttime is a little different lately.  Yes, he still sleeps through the night - about 11-12 hours.  But it's taking him much longer to go to sleep!  From the time we finish his bath, Bible study, and reading books, Reid turns out the light and starts getting him ready to fall asleep...And it's been taking him an hour to do this!  It never used to take that long!  He's just started this in the last week or so....We try to soothe him for awhile, and then just have to lay him down and leave him be.  Hopefully this phase will pass quickly!

LANGUAGE
Caeden is learning new words everyday - It's so fun to hear his growing vocabulary!  He's now putting four and five words together in a sentence.  A few weeks ago, he started randomly saying the word "people."  In a room full of people he had hurt his toe, and apparently after repeatedly asking us to kiss it, no one was paying attention.  He finally yelled, "Kiss my toe, people!"  I can't wait to continue to hear funny things he says!

BIBLE LEARNING
This month we've been reading and learning about Josiah and how he found a scroll when he was cleaning out the temple. Then how Josiah took good care of God's law. So, Caeden and Ella are learning about how special our Bible is and that God gave us the Bible. He can now say his Bible verse all by himself! He says, "The Bible...God's book!" He leaves out the word "is" in the middle, but that's okay - he's still hiding God's Word in his heart, which makes Reid and I so proud!

SUMMER ACTIVITIES
Our summer has been full of lots of fun activies - trips to the pool, cookouts, camping, trips to the splash pad, and a couple vacations.  With daddy being home for the summer, our routine is definitely off, but Caeden has done an awesome job of going with the flow and even dealing with a few late nights!

VACATION
We drove to Dallas in July and Caeden did an AMAZING job in the car!  He didn't have one meltdown in the car, took a good nap, and even kept his underwear dry the whole time!  This is definitely encouraging in knowing he's capable of long drives every once in a great while!

POTTY TRAINING
As many of you know, we started potty training Caeden when he was 22 mos old, and he is doing a great job!  It seems that when we go "home" to Missouri, he seems to have more accidents and we're not sure why.  But most of the time, he'll go days between accidents.  He will tell us when he needs to go, no matter where we are, which is great!

DOCTOR
Caeden had his 2 year check-up this week and was all healthy - even his ears!!  He was in the 35th percentile for height and 5th for weight.  Poor guy!  He truly eats well, so I think he has just inherited this "small" trait from his mommy and daddy. :)  He also got another shot, but he did awesome!  He only cried for about 10 seconds or so and then was distracted by his Bugs Bunny bandaid!

BIRTHDAY PARTY
Caeden had his second birthday party at Gymboree Play & Music last weekend.  He had a blast!  This was the perfect place for a two-year-old's birthday party!  I'll be posting pictures soon!

OUR SCHEDULE
8:00--Wake up, Eat Breakfast, Get Ready
9:00--Free Playtime
9:30--Play Outside (while it's still cool)
10:30--Table Time
11:00--Playtime with mommy
11:30--Free Playtime
12:00--Pick up toys & Lunch
12:30--Learning Time
12:45--Blanket Time (Independent Playtime)
1:00--Nap
2:30--Video Time (Caeden is a slow waker-upper)
3:00--Snack
3:15--Blanket Time
3:30--Free Playtime
4:00--Play Outside
5:15--Playtime with Daddy
6:00--Dinner & Family Playtime
7:00--Bath & PJ's
8:00--Bedtime!

Of course, these times are approximate, but we try to stick to this basic routine most days.