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!

Imaginary Play

This will be a short post, but just want to share something fun that Caeden has been doing recently.  He has learned imaginary play.  Sometimes he will point to a part of the room and tell me what's there, even though there's nothing.  His favorite is to play baseball in the living room with us.  He will pick up his invisible ball and put it on the invisible tee.  Then he will pick up his invisible bat and hit the invisible ball!  After we catch it, we throw it back to him and he catches it with both of his hands.  One time today, Daddy hit the invisible ball and Caeden ran to the basketball goal in the living room - He told us the ball went into the basket! HA! Where does he come up with this stuff?

Blanket Time

I just want to share with you a beautiful concept that we use at our house called "Blanket Time."  I would highly suggest this to anyone who has a child 6 mos or older.  The purpose is to teach teach kids boundaries, self-control, how to play independently, and problem solving. 

When Caeden was 6 mos old and learned how to sit up, we started with "Playpen Time."  This is when I would set him in his pack 'n play twice a day with various toys to play with.  I started with 5 minutes each time and gradually worked our way up to 30 minutes each time.  Of course, I would always keep him in a place where I could keep an eye on him, but not where I was sitting in plain view - otherwise, he just wanted to play with mommy.  This taught him to use whatever toys mommy chose, be creative and play with them by himself.  Since he didn't understand the concept of "time," I always told him he had to play until he heard the "beep-beep," thus being the timer that I always set.  It worked like a charm!  Yes, there were days he cried, but he quickly learned that he was fine and that he had toys to play with.

Then when he was about 12 mos old, we moved to Blanket Time.  We've done this for the last year.  I would put down one blanket and do the same thing - lay out a variety of toys, set a timer and let him play.  The first 2 days I remember him playing for a few minutes, then walking off his blanket.  I simply picked him up, set him back down on his blanket and said, "You stay on your blanket until you hear the beep-beep."  After a few warnings, I even put him in time-out for getting up.  It only took two days for him to learn to stay on his blanket.  It's so great to see him stand up, stay on the edge of his blanket and see him say, "All done, mommy!"  Of course he's not all done and I remind him to stay there until the timer goes off, but what self-control to stand on the edge of the blanket and not get off, even when he so badly wants to!

I've used this even out in public.  Once, when we had to go to a title company to sign refinancing papers.  And another time when we were meeting out attorney to sign our "will" papers.  I brought a blanket and a bag of toys.  I told him it was blanket time and to stay until mommy told him he was all done.  He did!  Everyone commented on how great he did - Of course, this is only because we did this daily at home.  Here is a picture of him having blanket time today:

You'll notice I'm letting him use two blankets now.  I'm trying to widen his boundaries since we're getting ready to move to "Roomtime."  This will involve him playing in his room for a set amount of time.  I will probably have to start out with putting a gate up, or maybe even shutting the door.  Again, I will start with a small amount of time and work my way up.

I have just loved this concept after reading about it when he was a baby.  I would highly suggest this to any mother.  Yes, some days will involve crying, but for the most part, it will pay off and will teach your child some great skills!  Also, note one more thing: Make sure you carefully choose the best timing to do this.  Right after a meal or nap is great, since they're happiest then!  Hope you choose to use this in your own home.  If you do, let me know how it goes!

And so it begins...

...the school days!  Caeden started Mother's Day Out today, for the first time.  He will only be going once a week, but of course, we call it "school."  We've been talking this up for a few weeks now - buying a new backpack, lunchbox, and reading books about starting school.  And today was the day!  He was so excited, he carried his lunchbox around all morning.  I dropped him off at 8:00 and he did great all the way into the classroom.  Then as I turned around to leave, he started screaming.  Of course this hurt my heart - I always imagine he's thinking, "Why is my mom leaving me?" and maybe feeling abandoned...  But I know it's good for both of us.  I got so much done today, it was incredible.  And when I picked him up at 2:00, his teacher (Ms. Stephanie) said he did great!  She commented on how he did such a good job at sharing and taking turns.  She also loves how he says the word "yellow," which is his favorite color - and she noted that she was impressed he was potty trained and knew all his colors.  She said he only cried for a few minutes at the beginning, which is so reassuring.  He even fell asleep on his cot during naptime!  He only slept 45 minutes, but at least he slept!  When I picked him up and got in the car, I asked him if he liked school.

He replied, "I like...big school!"  It was a great day for the both of us!