Family Fun Night!

So, our family is a part of an awesome program called P.A.T. (more on that later in my post).  And once a month, they provide fun, free outings for the family.  Tonight we had "Family Fun Night" at Chuck E. Cheese.  They provided each kid with pizza and 20 tokens, so of course, that's all a kid needs to have fun!

Now, more about Parents As Teachers (P.A.T.)  This is a program that was started in Missouri, but is now in several counties around the U.S.  It is through a grant that allows teachers to go into your home once a month and work with your child/children for one hour.  They bring fun toys geared towards your child's age and work with them on varous milestones.  Caeden loves it!  And every time Ms. Traci walks in, he runs straight to her bag of toys ready to play!  It's great for me, as the mom, because I learn what skills he should be working on and how to teach them.  It's also a great time to ask questions about discipline, sleep troubles, potty training, etc.  Each year, on the child's birthday month, they do a screening - just to check and make sure your child is "on track" for his age.  Like, I said this is a free program, so if you're a stay-at-home mom with children under the age of 5, I would highly recommend looking into this program!

A sweet moment

In the midst of having a two-year-old who loves to display his independence and throw temper trantrums, I try to cherish each sweet moment we have in this household. 

The other day I walked into his bedroom, where he was sitting in the glider and reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to himself.  He had picked out the book and climbed into the chair himself to read.  It was funny to stand outside the door and listen to him read his version. :)  When I first walked in, he didn't see me, so I snapped a picture.

Once he noticed I was there, I got another one real quick:

As any parent, I want my child to love books and love reading.  Yes, he loves to be read to before nap and beditme, but he rarely just sits down by himself long enough to read a book.  So, this was a very sweet moment to walk into.

Fun Pictures!

Just wanted to post some fun pictures from this past week!

Lovin' on my nephew, Emerson.

You can tell he loves me back, huh?

Caeden trying on Daddy's shoes.

Apparently he thinks he needs dress shoes

with his Razorback windpants.

Trying on a Razorback stocking cap

Eating out to celebrate Mommy's birthday!

He liked holding each half of his sandwich

in each hands - He took turns with his bites!

Reid & I tailgating before the Troy game!

Another milestone...

So, in the past, Caeden's Nana or Daddy has cut his hair.  But since we haven't seen Nana in awhile, we decided to take Caeden to my hairstylist to get a haircut.  So, while today wasn't his first ever hair cut, it WAS his first haircut in a salon!  I was prepared for a wiggly child and had brought a snack and some favorite books to read.  He was pretty excited and talked about it the whole way there.  When we got there, he waited until it was time...

My hairstylist had him sit on a booster seat and put his "superhero" cape on him. :)  He looked so tiny sitting in the big chair!  And he sat SO STILL (and looked so serious) the entire haircut!

When he was all done, he "smiled" and said "cheese," which means we get a scrunched up face like this:

Caeden did an awesome job of sitting still and Ashley (my hairstylist) did a great job too!!!  First haircut in a salon...SUCCESS!

Toddler Summary: 24 mos old

Here is a summary of Caeden, at 24 months old.

EATING
Caeden is still a great eater, overall.  He continues to usually eat what we give him at mealtime.  Last night we had fajitas, he thought it was so fun to hold up the rolled-up tortilla and take a bite!  His favorite foods right now are strawberries, cereal bars, and yogurt.

PLAYTIME
Caeden doesn't have any "favorite" toys at the moment.  He mainly just plays with a variety of toys each day.  He's still doing great at blanket time - I'm thinking about moving him to "roomtime" soon. Caeden now knows all of his colors and some of his shapes.  He can recognize two letters: O & W.  We haven't done any fun crafts in awhile, so we may have to do some soon!

SLEEP
Caeden is still sleeping normally (11-12 hours at night) and still sleeps about 1-1.5 hours at naptime.  We went camping this past weekend.  He had issues with his sleep the first night, but did great the rest of the time. He is doing much better at handling disruptions in his schedule.

TEETHING
Caeden cut 3 of his eye teeth this past month.  He's cutting the last one right now.  He has always been a late teether.  But he already got his two year molars.  So after this last eye tooth, I hope we're done for awhile. He has been chewing on his fingers, holding his mouth, and telling us his mouth hurts.  I'm just praying this doesn't lead to another ear infection!

LIBRARY STORYTIME
We go to library storytime every week and Caeden is doing so much better than he used to.  He sits still, focuses on the book, and does the hand rhymes with the librarian.  I think this has been a great way to prepare him socially for times that we need to sit and listen.  And it's only 20 minutes long - so it's the perfect time span for him!

SCHOOL
Caeden recently started Mother's Day Out.  He has only gone twice so far, but I think it's going well.  He's always a little upset when I leave, but then he's fine.  When I picked him up last week, he told me he learned about "animals," and sure enough that was their unit last week.  Crazy what kids actually learn at such a young age!

DISCIPLINE
We have been dealing with Caeden "whining" lately.  I feel like I'm always telling him, "Say it like a big boy."  Then he usually will.  But it's taking LOTS of reminding.  Hopefully we'll pass this phase soon!

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

Happy Trails...To You!

As usual, we spent our Labor Day weekend camping at Devil's Den.  We had an amazing weekend.  The weather was PERFECT, Caeden played and was never bored or fussy the entire time, and slept great! 

It was definitely a fun, relaxing weekend. 

 Caeden & Daddy playing down at the creek

Hanging out in Nana's camper

 

 

 

My adorable nephew, Emerson!

Playing baseball on the campground ball field

Being creative with a branch & a baseball hat :)

This was early one morning - Caeden of course woke up before anyone else.

We just relaxed...and wrote in the rocks with a stick!



Eating a YUMMY breakfast with daddy!

Getting ready for our hike!

Caeden's first time to roast a hot dog!

And of course the best part - Eating a  s'more!



Bugs, Bugs Everywhere

Well, imaginary bugs that is!  To add to my post from yesterday, I thought I would add another imaginary scene that took place this morning.  Caeden, Ella & I were in the living room playing.  Caeden said he was going to the kitchen and that he would "be right back."  He came back saying, "Mommy!  A bug!"  He was pinching his index finger and thumb together and I was thinking "Great..."  Well, then he said "Bug for mommy!"  I held out my hand and he dropped an imaginary bug into my hand! HA! That kid and his imagination - so random!

Ella then said that she wanted a bug too.  So Caeden said, "I be right back!"  He ran to the kitchen and came back with an imaginary bug for Ella.  He then got one for himself and we spent some time playing with our imaginary bugs in our hands!  Love that boy and his imagination!