Boo hoo!

Boo hoo! I first must pout because the MN Vikings team lost tonight in a nail- biter of a game. Daddy even cheered for the Vikes tonight. I was in bed after the first half, but I could hear lots of cheers, shouts, and words that I cannot repeat, coming from the basement.

Daddy did some shopping today and came home with this little kid's table for me. Mommy is not sure where it will go since she had planned on putting one in my bedroom once it was turned into my "big boy" room. In the meantime, it will adorn our living room or family room.

I love to help Daddy with projects. I was excited to pass him the screws and washers for my new table. Sadly, after we assembled the chairs, we noticed that the table was cracked. So, I now have two chairs and no table for a day or so. Daddy put together my kid Craftsman electric drill, which is now my favorite toy. I enjoy drilling into my forehead.

Last Monday, we started Kindermusik with Jillian. I started music class with her about a year ago and was excited to see my friends return from last session. Ethan, Kenny and Reese were all there and so was a surprise newbie...FINLEY! Mommy and her job-share partner, Heather, didn't know until the day before class that Finley and I would both be in music together. Daddy says Mommy will have another reason to "talk shop" instead of pay attention during music classes.

I was surprisingly shy for the first half of music class. I felt comfy sitting in Daddy's lap and happily chewing on the plastic balls that Jillian let us play with . It is a sing and sign class, which will be great, since I only know the signs for "more" and "all done." I am quite verbal, so my parents haven't pushed the sign language component, but felt this would be a fun class anyhow.

Jillian brought bubbles to class, which I LOVE to play with. Daddy is an excellent bubble blower and I had a blast trying to catch these little guys. Mommy thinks she should bring some bubbles inside of the house to help me focus and stay preoccupied for 5 minutes!

Earlier in the week, we met Shauna and Maddy at the Children's Museum. I love to play in the toddler park and I really LOVE this red car. I was not too happy to share it with Maddy when she tried to climb in. You can tell by my death glare that I did not feel like sharing at all this day. Daddy says that someday I will welcome girls into the front seat of my car.

Mommy says we will definitely be working on sharing in the months ahead.

I love to talk on the phone, as you all know, so Mommy and Shauna helped dial the phones in the post office and dentist office for us to answer. Instead, it created confusion, as the picture shows above.

The Museum still had their water exhibit up and running so we headed downstairs to play. I love to throw water way up high in the air during bathtime, so Mommy knew this would be a huge mess. After 10 minutes or so, I was very wet and I was crying hysterically because I didn't like this huge water wheel. Mommy took that as a strong hint that I was tired, overwhelmed and ready for a nap. We headed home after our two hour visit.

Grandma bought me this monkey suit for Christmas. She thought it would be an easy way to transport me to daycare. Mommy decided to try it one day and I was ready within 30 seconds. It was convenient, all right, but I sure looked like a huge "baby" trying to squeeze into a jumpsuit. This snowsuit was made for a 24 month old, but it reminds me of those funny outfits that I wore when I was a little baby. Mommy appreciated not having to put on my shoes/boots, coat, hat, and mittens. We will probably try this a few more times, although I really hope I never wear this in public.

My latest craze is to wear Mommy's shoes around the house. She rarely keeps her shoes at the backdoor (pet peeve of hers), but last week, I had three opportunities to put on her shoes. The first try was with her Ugg boots and it was a cinch to put these on. The second try was with a pair of high heels which Mommy quickly heard my feet coming down the hallway in these noisy things and took them away in fear of a serious injury. The third shoe I tried on for a spin was a clog of Mommy's and these were also very kid-friendly and fun to walk in. I haven't tried Daddy's shoes on yet, but that is b/c Mommy makes sure his shoes are either in his closet or in the garage.

It was Mommy's b-day on the 16th and sadly, we left our camera at Jenny's house (daycare) over the weekend. Mommy had a nice birthday weekend with family and friends. I bought her some nice gifts which she appreciated and she said I was the best gift of all, as always. We don't have a baby update right now since it has been 3 weeks since our last appt. The ultrasound is in two weeks and we can't wait to find out if the baby is a girl or boy. Mommy calls this stage, "Calm before the storm" because once we find out the gender, the nursery and other preparations will begin. I am looking forward to getting baby toys out and getting the room ready. Have a good week everyone!

Caffeine Junkie

The week started off with a quick trip to Grandma Lois' house to see Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, and cousins Kyra and Bennett before they flew back home to Georgia. Kyra celebrated her 8th birthday that night with us as we had a dinner, cake and presents for her. We can't believe she is already 8 years old!

I haven't learned the "Birthday" song yet, but cousin Bennett belted it out as loud as he could! The grown-ups were relieved that he covered up their voices with his!

Grandma sure loves her time with her boys! It only happens twice a year when we are all together. We won't see Ben, Erin, Kyra, and Bennett until our baby comes in June. It is always fun to be with them and everyone predicts that Bennett and I will be up to "no good" next summer together!

How do families with three children ever take a "good" picture together. This is proof that it would be a small miracle to get all three to look and smile at the same time. Good job, Kyra!

Mommy is somewhat relieved to see another little "monkey" who likes to climb furniture and who is also "on the go!" She knows that this stage will last at least another year or longer... Bennett is 12 months older than me and he is a ball of fun energy! I love to laugh at him and copy the tricks he does.

Here is one of those rare moments... two toddlers sitting down together. I just LOVE Baby Einstein DVD's and Grammy had one at her house. Bennett and I settled down a bit to watch the video for a few minutes. Daddy says I need to work on my posture! After the video, it was time for hugs, kisses and sad goodbyes. We headed home since Daddy had to work the next day. We will see Uncle, Auntie and cousins on Skype, but otherwise, it will be summer before they come back home (miss you guys!)

Our next big outing was on the weekend. We had ONE last Christmas gathering with my Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa. We headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the cities for this.

While visiting with everyone, Maggie (Grandpa Jamie's daughter) thought it would be funny to give me a taste of Coke. You know that my extended family is notorious for giving me junk food, right!?!?!? Well, I LOVED the Coke so much, that I just didn't want to let go. I sat there in the kitchen for a good 5 minutes with my lips sealed around the top. I had this little "puppy" look in my eyes, begging for more and more sips. Pretty soon, everyone was in the kitchen laughing hyserically at my facial expressions, my persistence, and my arms that just dangled at my sides. Eventually, I let go of the Coke bottle and moved on to the next random act.

Still hanging in there...yummy!

Great-Grandma loves to smother me with hugs and kisses. As you can see in this picture, I am more concerned about my socks that are shoved in my mouth. I am seriously cutting my canines and had an explosion on the way to the cities. Luckily, we stopped at Babies R Us, to pick up my new toilet (pictures will be on future posts), and Daddy was the lucky parent who had to clean me and change my clothes. Besides my daily dose of Tylenol or Ibuprofen, there isn't a lot we can do. I like to D-R-A-G out the teething process and my parents just can't wait for the disgusting diapers to be over! Mommy also can't wait for my desire to clamp down on her shoulder, fingers, and even her lips (I gave her a big surprise open-mouthed kiss this week and clamped down). She was NOT happy. I immediately started to cry because I knew this was naughty. I went to Timeout on my own.

Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa own a bookstore and Grandma loves to tell me stories. Here we are, doing Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the "Couch!" I love that Great-Grandma knows all of my favorite stories and it was fun to have Lexi demonstrating an excellent jumping monkey.

We headed back home that evening and I wrapped up my goodbyes by giving Duke hugs and kisses. He is a little King Charles Spaniel and used to be Auntie Stefanie, Uncle Bruce, Lexi and Sam's dog. They realized how much work a dog was (Mommy warned them) so they gave their dog to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa to take care of. The dog is seriously spoiled and has seriously put on some major weight. I think Great-Grandpa feeds Duke pancakes and bacon for breakfast....lucky dog!

Another birthday celebration was Grandma Lois' Dad, my Great-Grandpa Bud. He turned 88 years old and lives in an assisted living home. He is close to our house, so we get to see him often. I was given even MORE caffeine when cousin Mike thought it would be funny to see how I liked coffee. Well, what do you know... I love it! He put some cream in it, but still, I LIKE COFFEE! Mommy doesn't even like coffee and she is completely perplexed by this finding. I don't like most meats or vegetables, but I like random foods like black olives, spicy foods, and coffee. Go figure! I was all jazzed up after my caffeine fix. We watched the Packers lose that day (sorry Daddy). I was endlessly walking around, visiting and talking to everyone at the party, and of course, had to throw in "TOUCHDOWN" from time to time.

Still sitting with my Great-Grandpa. Must be the coffee I was having with him. I think Great-Grandpa and I should have weekly coffee get togethers.

Here is my fish tank that Santa brought me for Christmas. It is on our antique sewing machine, which makes Mommy cringe a bit, but since it is out of reach, we figured it was a safe spot. I picked out two cute little goldfish from the pet store last week. I don't have names for them yet, I just yell "FISH" when I see them. I also like to say, "Nigh, Nigh" to them when I see that their light is off or when I am heading to bed. The plant is glow in the dark which is pretty cool. We want to put a little statue or something in there, but didn't find one yet that we liked. One of the fish is starting to get black spots. We are trying to figure out if that is what happens to baby fish, just like what happens to baby cows. If anyone is a fish expert, let us know if we should be concerned! We have a 15 day guarantee in case he doesn't make it.

I am showing off my tank. I learned how to flip the little port-hole open where we put the food into the tank. My parents won't let me feed the fish quite yet, but maybe when I turn two I can help with this job.

Since John (riding lawn mower) is safely tucked away in the garage, Daddy pulled the snowmobiles out for my daily riding pleasure. I call the snowmobile (Four Lel-La) which is my special version of Four Wheeler. Mommy is trying to convince me to say snowmobile, but has had no luck yet. I like to make revving noises when I see the snowmobiles parked outside. Mommy has her own, but she has not jumped on it yet and doesn't have plans to unless the weather gets up to the 40's this winter!

In case you are wondering, yes, that is our crazy dog, Liberty, in the background, and she likes to bury her head and look around under the snow. She is a weird dog.

I no longer have my pacifier at night. It has been TWO weeks since I saw my favorite little guys. I had a few ROUGH nights of waking up and screaming. Mommy didn't know how long the trend would last and lucky for my parents, it was short-lived. Mommy took me to get my moppy hair cut this week and she gave me those delicious pacifier suckers while I had my haircut. I even sat still long enough to have the top of my hair scissor cut this time instead of buzzed. Mommy was super proud of me for not wiggling out of my seat and embarassing her to no end. I still miss my pacifiers and I will not get to see them until the baby is here, because Mommy made sure they were safely placed in a tub as high as you can put a tub in our storage room.

Here is Mommy's 16 week pregnancy photo below. She commented to Daddy that he hasn't taken a picture of her belly yet. Daddy is somewhat embarassed by this, so he quickly snapped one, even though Mommy said she was tired and not picture ready. When I was in Mommy's belly, Daddy took pictures of her belly every week or two. Funny how things change!

Baby Update: My brother or sister is now about the size of your hand if you spread it out wide. The little monkey has fine hair all over his/her body. Mommy still thinks I have this fine hair on my back and swears she will give it just a little more time before she waxes or shaves me... ouch! The doctor saw Mommy this week and said everything looks great...her blood pressure is perfect, weight gain is on track, and the baby's heartrate was in the 150's. Compared to my heartrate, which was always in the 130's, this is high. Mommy is convinced she is carrying a little girl this time. We will be happy with a boy or girl and the doctor ordered the 20 week ultrasound which will take place on Monday, February 8th. We do plan on finding out the gender and look forward to solving the mystery of it all! In the meantime, Mommy had a blood test done this week to check for any possibilites of Spina Bifida or Down Syndrome and we will find out if all seems well in the next few days. We feel very excited and blessed that baby and Mommy are doing so well so far! My parents hope to get a little video clip for the next blog that shows my little routine with the baby. When Mommy says, "Where's the baby?" I lift up her shirt, give the baby a kiss, lay on her tummy for a minute, say "Baby" and pull her shirt over her tummy and say, "Nigh Nigh" to the baby. It is so cute of me and it makes my parents smile and love me even more. I will be one awesome brother!

2010...Here I Come!

I need to back WAY up, to our crazy busy Christmas week. This might be the longest blog post to date, so settle in with some popcorn and hot chocolate and I hope you enjoy the update! Mommy and Daddy said this Christmas was so much fun since I am more "aware" of what the *$&*@ is going on. It still was a blur, to be honest with you! It all began on Christmas Eve....

Mommy insisted that Daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to me, since her Daddy always read this as part of her family tradition. Papa (Grandpa Marty) actually recorded his voice to this book for me, but it was not here on time, oh well, next year! So, Daddy and I nestled in for a little story. After about 8 seconds, I mostly just walked around the bedroom, but Daddy and Mommy continued to read the story (they must like hearing themselves). It was then bedtime for me.

While, I was in bed, it must have gotten quite crazy in our house. I came across this picture of Liberty with Santa's hat on. Maybe she was Santa's helper!

When I woke up and came down the stairs, this is what I saw!

Santa brought me a train table for my Thomas the Train set and the I kept saying, "Ooooh" when I saw it. Of course, I had to climb right up there to test it out. It will make a nice chair as well.

In my Caden bag, Santa also put a kid sized shovel (aren't there child labor protection laws... Grandma???), a John Deere ride along, snow molds for when Daddy and I build forts outside (I think Daddy bought this for himself), and my FISH TANK!!!!

I gave the baby a shirt that says, "Best Buddies" since I know I will be good friends with my little brother or sister. Mommy laid the shirt on her tummy since the baby can't actually wear it quite yet.

Santa is a wise guy. In my stocking, there were books, CD's, a baby Einstein DVD and silverware! Yes, silverware. I think Mommy told Santa that I really need to work on using these more at meal times, so he gave me some new forks and spoons that should be Caden-friendly and easier to manipulate. We shall see!

I had gifts from Mommy and Daddy too (clothes, tractors, shoes, slipper, PJ's, toys, etc..) They decided they only needed to buy me the John Deere tractor above, because I was in LOVE with this "big boy" toy. I pushed it all around the house and Mommy and Daddy basically had to unwrap the remaining gifts for me under the tree.

Here is my new fish tank from Santa. It's hard to see in the picture, but it is a 2.5 gallon Sesame Street tank. I have blue colored gravel rocks and we are going to get two goldfish for it this week. I will post a picture of my new fishy friends next time!

Another exciting gift was this John Deere night light. I have a "baby" one that I am giving to my brother or sister since I am now 19 months and am ready for a big boy light. Mommy is thinking maybe she will convert my room into a John Deere themed room for my 2nd birthday.

Daddy had a special gift that Mommy didn't even know about. She thought maybe it was a pair of hockey skates, and to her surprise, it was a Packers jersey. "Driver" is on the back and Mommy said this was a good guy on the team, so she is "OK" with it. If you don't know, Mommy is a HUGE Vikings fan.

After a busy morning of opening gifts, it was time to head to the cities for our next Christmas gathering. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the night. I was so tuckered out, that I slept on the way there. Mommy was glad the weather cooperated, since a HUGE snowstorm was predicted. Notice they weren't too concerned since the items in the back of the SUV would have flung forward and knocked me out if we had to stop quickly!

When we got to the house, we visited for a short time, but then got ready for church. Grandpa had a studly Christmas tie for me to wear and Mommy caught me lounging like a little "dude" on the stairs.

Mommy said I will make a great executive some day with my pin-striped pants, shirt and tie. Everyone at church commented on my tie or my hair. We always have to explain that my hair naturally stands up like this on a daily basis.

Our family picture after church and before my bedtime. I heard Santa was coming again that night, so I went right to sleep!

When I woke up.... I found the amazing black pick-up truck! It's the same ones that kids fight over at the Sports Center. It was just for me! It had a little tool kit and hard hat in there for me (to take to work, of course) and a little electronic gas pump, equipped with my own Little Tykes credit card... watch out!

It's great that grandparents don't care if you ride these things around the house and bang into their walls. My parents don't let me have these kinds of toys in the house, they stay in the garage.

Cousins Sam and Lexi came over to celebrate Christmas with us and we all had fun zooming around the house in the truck. I think Sam would have liked one of these too!

Mommy always insists that I try to get a cousins picture when we are all together and I really wasn't in the mood for a picture photo op. Here is a good show of what my fake cry looks like (mouth wide open, no tears, and lots of sound).

Mommy told me to stop, so I did and this is the best I could do. Hey, at least I am not crying!

Everyone gave the baby a Moses basket for transporting the little pumpkin around the house. Mommy loved how soft the fabric was inside and I even climbed in it to check it out. I can even fit inside of it, so I might have to fight the baby on this one. It seems to be a good place for a catnap.

Here I am on Karri's lap (uncle Jim's girlfriend). I was really hoping for a proposal to make this an official auntie deal, but uncle Jim let me down. We are excited to share that Daddy's youngest brother, uncle Matt, proposed to his girlfriend Jill, and they are planning a tropical destination wedding in 2010. So, now the pressure is on my uncle Jim! Anyhow, our Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house was a busy one, full of family members, food, and presents. I really could get used to having Christmas more often!

We headed home to unload the "sleigh" and sleep in our beds. The next day, we went to great-aunt and great-uncle Anson's house for a little Christmas brunch. They gave me this silly sock monkey that popped out of a box when I turned the handle. I just laughed and laughed at that thing.

We went to Grammy's house next to have Christmas with Daddy's siblings. Grammy's house is only 45 minutes from our home, so it wasn't as big of a trek. We went out on the lake to sled and some people had a snowball fight.

You can see by this picture that I was ready to head in. In the background, you can see my soon-to-be-auntie, Jill. She is probably thinking she does not want to have children anytime soon with uncle Matt. It was kind of a zoo with the cousins around!

One of my favorite things to do at Grammy's house is harass, I mean cuddle, with Rudy, her gigantic cat. He is the largest cat I have ever seen, but he is tolerant and lets me lay on him.

My cousins, Kyra and Bennett, came home for Christmas from Georgia. They were really excited to play in the snow outside. Bennett is one year older than me, and Mommy is just amazed at how quickly I will change in the year ahead.

For those of you who don't know this... I am obsessed with vacuums. I beg Mommy to vacuum the house ("va-um") almost daily. She doesn't always listen, but she says it sure does help when she does have cleaning to do! I just follow behind her and watch her technique. Uncle Matt heard about my love for this device, and bought me my only vacuum! After I opened this gift, it was game over. I didn't care to open up any of my other gifts, although there were lots of great ones from the family!

I vacuumed Grammy's house up and down for the rest of the day. I practiced the forward and back technique that I see Mommy doing. Mommy says she wishes that my vacuum would actually suck up dirt and lint. In my mind, it does, so I will continue taking this job very seriously.

I did take the occasional break from vacuuming to take Bennett's toys away and make him mad. We are both working on sharing right now, which is somewhat easier for me, since I am not quite into the "mine" stage.

Mommy loves this picture of Bennett and I. He was showing me how to bang on the door window like a drum and I thought this was a super neat trick. Monkey See, Monkey Do, is already setting in. Mommy says it is good that I don't have an older sibling right now to copy.

Our fun, new event this year, was to go on a family sleigh ride. Grammy lined up a sleigh ride through the woods with a local family. They had beautiful horses with bell harnesses that took us on a real sleigh ride. We have decided this would be a great tradition from now on.

It was a perfect day for the sleigh ride. We brought hot chocolate and the sun was shining and the wind was still. Auntie Erin took a group picture, which we do not have right now for this post. I will try to post it next time.

Our sleigh ride was about 45 minutes and when we returned, the family even let us see the animals in their barn. I was mostly excited about the big four-wheeler in there and when it was time to go, I had a complete meltdown. I guess this whole running for the holidays all over the place, was getting to me (and my parents). I was ready to head home and have my new toys in my room and play area (newly created in the basement). It sure was busy, but Christmas was a lot of fun too!

Next up... New Year's Eve. During the day, I went to the Sports Center and that night, we went to our neighbor's for a low-key, but fun dinner and New Year's gathering. Earlier in the day, Mommy and Daddy brought me to the Sports Center to have a little fun and to burn some energy. Heather and Finley met us there to play too! We jumped like monkeys in the bouncy castle and it was especially nice how quiet it was for the first 45 minutes or so. We had the place to ourselves during this time, and then it became a zoo!

Finley is showing off his soccer skills here. Notice how I jumped into action (kidding, of course).

Mommy thought it was funny that I would go sit down in a chair and read books when there were lots of busier activities to do. This only lasted for a minute, and it was off to the other areas. My favorite place at the Sports Center is the arcade area, which puzzles my parents since they have never dropped money into a machine for me to play any of these. I nearly have a tantrum when I am ripped away (literally) from these machines.

Here is my "ready or not, 2010, here I come" picture! Mommy and Daddy expect this to be a very busy year with all of the many changes I will make as I head towards the wonderful age of two. We are excited to add baby to our family and celebrate whatever else comes our way!

In closing, Mommy has been hearing lots of talking from me lately, and one day, she snuck up on me while I was carrying a conversation with ? on the phone. Luckily, we do not have long-distance on our land phone, because if we did, I most likely would have been talking to someone in Tokyo! I actually called 3 different people (there is a slight quiet pause while I dial each new number). Notice the big, "Yah" half-way through the conversation. Mommy says it is the "Northerner/Canadian" accent she is already picking up in my speech! Mommy interrupts me about 37 seconds into my conversation and I give her my notorious "naughty" look. Happy 2010 everyone!