Chicken Puppet

In case you forgot what a chicken says (sorry it's a little dark)...

Just because he's so cute...

"Where Oh Where"

"Where oh where is Caden?
Where oh where could he be?
He has red hair and blue eyes.
Where oh where could he be?"

"There he is!"

Toddler Time Part 2

It's been awhile since I've posted Toddler Time things. It was canceled two weeks ago because of snow, so this is from last week. We didn't go yesterday because Caden has a little cold. Last week they read a book about birds, so they made a little ring out of Cheerios that we hung on our deck. I don't know that there were too many takers, oh well. Caden thought the "O's" were good!

32 Weeks

As of today, I officially have 8 weeks to go! We are getting so excited. I'm getting a lot of good kicks from Sunshine, including ones to different organs which don't feel so good :) I had an appointment yesterday and everything is still looking good. My blood pressure was good and so was the baby's heartbeat. They were both up at the last appointment, but I think that was related to me having to park farther away plus the fact that I was running late. My doctor reminded me again that he is just one of six different doctors plus a midwife that could deliver the baby (I like him the best so far). I've met three doctors, and I will be meeting the midwife too. I guess we'll just wait and see! I'll post belly pictures soon. Oh - just for fun, I've added a poll to the right side of the blog to see if you think the baby is a girl or a boy.

Coloring with Daddy

The other day both of my boys were very quiet. When I looked in the living room, this is what I saw:

This is what Caden had been working on. I guess it upset him to show off his art work.

"Homemade & Hearty Hamburger Casserole"

Some of my other friends share recipes, so I thought I might share too. This is an Amish one my mom found in the newspaper I believe.

2 lbs. hamburg
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
16 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup cooked white rice
1/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 Tbs. chili powder (this is too much for me personally - I use more like 1/2 Tbs.)
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (or whatever is on hand)

Preheat oven to 350. Set aside 1 cup of cheese. Cook hamburg in skillet and drain grease. Mix cooked hamburg, black pepper, salt, tomato sauce, white rice, onion, green pepper, chili powder and 1 cup cheese together in large 3 quart casserole dish. Use the saved 1 cup of cheese to spread on top. Bake for 30 minutes. (Jason likes to eat this with corn chips.)

Another great/easy recipe from Renee (Tackling Today's Tasks): Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels
Caden enjoyed stirring (actually mashing) as much as Callen did I believe :)

Are "Kix" the New "O's"?

I think they are in our house at least. He still enjoys his beloved "O's", but he's really been enjoying the Kix lately. He asks for "kicking" when he wants some.

Another Caden tidbit:
When he wakes up from a nap or in the morning I ask if he had sweet dreams, and his response is always, "yeah, uh huh." Then when asked what he dreams about, he says, "read books."

Valentine's Day

Caden's Valentine's celebration began last Friday at play group where he made a lady bug, Valentine card, and painted hearts on a necklace with his hands.

Then on Valentine's Day, he opened gifts from Pappy, GG, Mammy, and Aunt Erin. He had a very M&M Valentine day, getting M&M's from all of the above, including us.

Tearing off a tiny piece of paper and...

running around the coffee table to the other side to make a small pile.
(needless to say, it took some time to open Valentine gifts)Opening a book from Pappy and GG (Itsy Bitsy Spider was from Mammy)

Opening his Valenine bear from Aunt Erin named either "Happy" or "Red" depending on the day.

"Jingle Bells"

This is a favorite of Caden's, and we sang it all throughout the holiday season (and apparently we're going to keep singing it). He's "following along" with a book that Mammy had gotten him last year.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Jason's 31st Birthday. Daddy is more of a fan of brownies than cake, so Caden and I surprised Daddy with birthday brownies. Caden asked for both cake and brownies, but seemed to settle for brownies. After saying "Happy New Year", and "Happy Cake" to Daddy, he finally got out "Happy Birthday Daddy!"

I just love the excited look on this face!
(this is the first time he's helped me make anything)

I tried to get the fact that it was snowing out in this picture, but it didn't quite work.

Posing next to the baking brownies.
(gotta love the smile and I know I did as a kid too)

Ripping up paper is a new favorite thing to do.

"The Smile" with Daddy.
Happy Birthday, Jason/Daddy!

Baby Rules

Caden will every once in a while go through the list of things he can't touch, so I asked him if he was going to tell the baby the rules. Now he calls them "Baby Rules" and says, "No touch computer, no touch TV, no touch heater, no touch place (fireplace), etc." What a good big brother already!

Kitchen in a Kitchen

The other day Jason and I were just talking in the living room when out of the corner of our eyes, we saw something sliding across the floor. For some reason Caden felt like pushing his kitchen into the kitchen. We asked why, and he said, "exercise."

Snow Day

We finally got snow yesterday! Caden has been asking for snow to make a snowman for while now. So, on Tues. we were talking about it and I said we'll cross our fingers. When Jason got home from work, he asked Caden if we were going to get any, and Caden said, "fingers crossed." Here are a few pictures of our fun yesterday.

Posing with a very old snow tube (mine when I was a kid) and new boots (thanks Nana and Papa). Not sure why the eyes are closed.

Posing for a picture quick before they went down our yard for yet another run.

Jason barely fit in the tube.

Quick smile before heading down.

I know Caden asked for a snowman, but all I had energy for was a short, chubby bunny. I worked on that while they took their many trips down the hill.

Posing next to the snow bunny.

We figured out what our hilly backyard is good for:
(Please excuse the "whoas" coming from me. They went down faster than I thought they could. Caden didn't get scared at all. He had a great time, though he shouts out "careful" at one point.)

"BIG book"

Caden has been pulling out our wedding album nicknamed "BIG book" lately. So we'll sit and go through it about 3 times before he gets tired of looking. I think I've looked through it more in the last few day than I have since we've been married. Anyhow, he points to just about every picture and says, "favorite." He's been saying "coot" for cute and "soft" a lot lately too for different things. He wanted to "see" the baby the other day, and when I showed him my belly, he pointed to my belly button and said "coot...soft." He just makes me smile.

Books and Pictures

Caden found one of my photo albums with pictures from friends' showers and weddings the other day. It wasn't a great one, so some pictures fell out. I then remembered I had a nicer book, and transferred them into that one. So, I guess I'm kinda glad he found that old one.

The new smile.

Just relaxing and reading a book.
I love seeing him "reading" on his own.

The Everhart Museum

We went to the Everhart Museum today. They just opened a new exhibition by Nathan Sawaya called "The Art of the Brick". This very talented/amazing artist does all of his pieces using LEGOs. We all had a great time, especially Caden who kept saying "fun" through the whole thing. If I got separated from him and Jason, I'd hear, "Mommy coming?" He also seemed to enjoy the bird exhibit in the museum. He kept saying either "coot" (cute) or "soft". The "BIG" dinosaur scared him at first. There was even a LEGO dinosaur which didn't seem to bother him too much. Here are just a few of the exhibits we saw:"Pencil Fun"

"Heart"

"Sing"

"Hands"

"Circle Triangle Square"
(these were life sized)

"Grasp"
(this one was over 28,000 bricks - also life sized)

(pictures borrowed from www.thebrickartist.com since no pictures were allowed)

Talking

Caden has been talking pretty much nonstop for awhile now. Maybe the fact that I talk to him nonstop is the reason? He loves to talk about things that happened weeks/months ago too. It takes me a little bit until I realize what he's talking about. I love it when things happen during the day and he says, "Tell Daddy", so we have to remember to tell Daddy about it when he gets home. Here are some of my favorite things he says:

- When asked who the President is, he can tell you Obama and that he lives in the White House. He's come a long way from "Omama" and "barn".
- When asked if he needs help, he says, "Nope, self."
- If he hears a noise, he'll say, "K?" meaning "Are you OK?"
- Last night I said I wasn't feeling well, and he came over, put his hand on my chest and said, "Mommy better?"
- Heard over the monitor - "Mommy...are you (where are you?)?...Downstairs?...Oh."
- When asked, "When is the baby coming?", he replies, "April."
- He says the last words to a lot of poem type things like books (esp. The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton) and the grace we say before we eat.
- The other day I asked him if he was my Toots a-boots and he said got a funny look and said, "No, tweet pea" for sweet pea.

Tower

Caden was very proud of this tower he built with Daddy. He even posed himself with the tower. Kinda strange though - I had trouble taking the picture without a scary face from him. I think he was trying to smile??

Sunshine 29 Weeks

Baby Sunshine and I are continuing to grow and doing well. I got the results of my glucose test (I think I said anemic instead of diabetic last time for some strange reason - blame it on the pregnancy brain) which were normal, yea! The nurse left a nice big bruise on my arm though. I hope to avoid him next time! I'm feeling great movement, especially when I'm ready to go to bed. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going.

Toddler Time (Winter Session)

Toddler Time at the library has started up once again. Our neighbors are going this time, which is nice. Caden started out really well, sitting perfectly still on the chair like we talked about. Then they switched things up a little and did the craft before the story. He just couldn't sit after that; he was too worried about his "caft". He even pushed my hands away while saying, "self" during craft time.

The topic of conversation was the Olympics.

I love this look!
He was in the middle of saying, "Mom".

Super Caden

My mom and sister came to visit the weekend before last. Here are a few random pictures from when they were here.

Mammy showing Caden how to text...or is it the other way around?

Patiently waiting for Erin to get dressed and come down stairs. He didn't want to play with anything, just waited.

Being a good host and serving lots of good food to Aunt Erin.

Super Caden!
My mom and sister were playing around with Caden and tucked a blanket into his shirt. He wasn't satisfied with just one; he ended up with three tucked in.

Super Cute Caden playing in the entertainment system we no longer need (anyone need one?)