Caden’s vocabulary and verbal skills have really jumped lately. He’s picking up words left and right and is starting to use them in new ways, not just how we have used them before. It is fascinating to watch his little brain work and try to figure out how to use the words he has to express himself. We finally caught a Caden Story on video! It basically recounts the night before when we had a hail storm pass through in the middle of the night. It was super loud and woke him up, so it was a particularly memorable night for him. In this video you’ll also hear him say, “Um um ummm” several times when he is thinking. That was the first (and almost last) time that he did that, which I find totally adorable.
Side note, when Caden mentions a frog, he actually means fog. Same difference, right? And he meant that the hail was loud, not that the fog was loud. There was a thick coat of fog that rolled in just after the hail storm, probably triggered by all that cold ice on the ground.
Caden is still skittish about thunder. He really doesn’t like being in his room alone when there is thunder outside and will panic and cry until someone comes to comfort him. As long as someone is there with him, he is okay. We’re working on his comfort level with thunderstorms and hopefully we are making a little progress. Whenever he hears thunder he should say, “Rumble rumble” and everything is okay.
Kamy has been tormenting Caden lately too. She knows he doesn’t like loud sounds, so she has intentionally been knocking on the wall and messing with doors in her room while he is next door, just to harass him. “Kamy made a noise!” was a frequent complaint this month. The kids do play together nicely most of the time though and love spending time together.
Caden is a great little helper. He loves to sweep inside and outside, rake the grass, and carry things in from the car. I love his sweet spirit and how he loves to help.
Caden has been working through how to handle his disapproval and frustration. When I tell him not to do something or to go to his room, occasionally he’ll say, “Mom-ma!” in a very stern voice or “Raaar!” at me. While cute in it’s own way, those need to be nipped in the bud immediately … disrespecting adults will not fly in our house. We’ve mostly gotten past the “Mom-ma” scowl, but the roars have remained thus far. Caden is also experimenting with hitting, though he quickly learned the fastest way to get sent to his room is to hit Momma. TROUBLE. He has been trading blows with Kamy too, with more leniency since I am rarely there to see it and only get reports from the aggrieved at the time.
Kamy got to go on a Daddy-Kamy date in May, so I had some nice one-on-one time with Caden too. We walked down to the park, played by the lake, made cookies, and messed around outside.
The kids decided it would be great fun to get a hold of the diaper cream tube one afternoon during nap time. They proceeded to smear it everywhere — on the windows, sheets, and furniture. Fortunately there was only a little on the carpet, but his room did smell like diaper rash ointment for a week or so. Now the ointment lives in the very top of the closet, way out of reach. Chill’uns chill’uns chill’uns …
Caden finally has a bedtime song. I’ve always sung to Kamy as I put her to bed … since she was just weeks old. But Caden fought bedtime and sleep for so long that I gave up singing to him. He figured out that the song was a prelude to bedtime and would pitch a fit as long as I was singing. Now that we have an easier bedtime routine, I started to sing Skinnamarink to him. He always asks me to sing it a second time before going to sleep. He’s such a sweetie to put to bed. I love my boy!
