Caden – December

  • Caden’s speech has really improved this month.  His sentences are getting more complex and he is starting to put new thoughts together rather than just working with what we have said.  He called me “Miss Momma” at bedtime the other night and completely melted my heart.  What a sweet little boy!  That being said, we are definitely working on his enunciation.  Caden has a tendency to get lazy and run his words together.  He is definitely getting better since we started focusing on it.

  • He is starting to memorize some of the books we read and will quote lines from them when we are talking.  Caden also will “read” to himself out loud and knows parts of the book verbatim.  I love how interested they are in reading, even if it means I read the same books over and over again.
  • Our little boy is very expressive.  Happy or sad, he swings hard either direction and you know how he feels about something.  After using the potty, he’ll exclaim “Have some CANDY!”  When cheering, he’ll often clap and bounce up and down and say “Yayayay!”  By the same token, when he is upset, you’ll definitely hear about it.  He protests instructions by dropping onto his face on the floor or giving the ultimate pouty lip.  If he gets set to his room he’ll stand by the door and cry “No Peas” over and over and over again as loud as he can.  At least he is polite about it!  I love his sweet little (or big!) grin.

  • Caden is improving at puzzles.  While he can certainly memorize where pieces go, he is learning how to look for similarities between puzzle pieces and will try to fit them together without direct guidance.  I am so glad both kids are interested in puzzles — it is a great skill and can set a solid foundation for math by learning about relationships and parts of a whole.

  • An on-going battle is developing the self control to stay in his room at quiet time.  Caden loves to sneak over to Kamy’s room to play instead of doing quiet time alone.  If he gets caught in Kamy’s room, he has to go back in and I close the door.  Since there is a door knob cover on his bedroom door, he is stuck in there when the door is closed.  I could close the door at the start of quiet time, but I think it is important for him to learn how to stay put, even when he doesn’t want to.  I did have Kamy protest when I sent him back to his room though … she said “Don’t take my Caden away!”  She knows to stay in her room, but she’d much rather play with him during quiet time and let him take the flak for not staying put.  =P
  • Always my little climber, he now climbs onto his changing table without pulling out any of the drawers.  He doesn’t want to be picked up and placed on the table and insists on climbing up himself.  He has slipped a few times and knocked his chin on the edge, but since he pulls on the attached changing pad there is a cushion there most of the time.
  • Lastly, Daddy and Caden have a new little game where they shoot of fireworks with their hands.  Closely related to the “Boom, Fireworks” call and answer, they raise their fists from the table into the air and explode the fireworks with a loud BOOM.   Caden loves to spend time with Daddy and will take any time he can wiggle into.